Photography control method, photography control system, and photography control server

ABSTRACT

A photography control method includes temporarily saving one or more sets of photography data, taken by a photographing camera, in a temporary photography data storage unit, acquiring identification information identifying a subject, extracting, from the one or more sets of photography data temporary saved in the temporary photography data storage unit, at least one set of photography data corresponding to the identification information acquired in the acquiring of identification information; and saving the extracted at least one set of photography data in a photography data storage unit in a manner associated with the identification information of the subject.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/497,361, filed Apr. 26, 2017, and claims the foreign priority benefitof Japanese Patent Application No. 2016-164910, filed on Aug. 25, 2016,and claims the foreign priority benefit of Japanese Patent ApplicationNo. 2016-095160, filed on May 11, 2016. The entire disclosure of each ofthe above-identified applications, including the specification,drawings, and claims thereof, is herein incorporated by reference in itsentirety.

BACKGROUND 1. Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a photography control method, aphotography control system, and a photography control server, and moreparticularly relates to, for example, a photography control method, aphotography control system, and a photography control server, wherebyphotography is performed of a subject at a predetermined photographyspot, using a remotely-operable photographing camera installed at aphotography spot such as a theme park, amusement facility, sightseeingdestination, or the like.

2. Description of the Related Art

A service is being studied where cameras are installed at locationswhere users would desire to take photographs, moving images, and soforth, such as attractions, pavilions, and like facilities in themeparks, amusement facilities, and so forth, locations with excellentscenery at sightseeing destinations, and so forth (hereinafter referredto as “photography spot”), and providing photography using the installedcameras. This service can improve user satisfaction, since betterphotographs without blurring can be taken as compared to takingphotographs using the user's camera, and photographs can be taken frompositions off limits to the user.

An example of such services being provided is a widely-used servicewhere users riding a ride at an attraction in an amusement park areautomatically photographed using a sensor or the like, as the users passin front of the camera. The users are allowed to view and selectphotographs later, which are then provided to the user.

An example of a system where the user is allowed to directly operate theinstalled camera is known, where an operating terminal (e.g., remotecontroller) is lent to the user, and photography is performed by theinstalled camera under instructions from the operating terminal (e.g.,see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 11-215421).However, such a service assumes the same camera being used by multipleusers, but only one user can operate the camera at a time, so multiplepeople cannot press the shutter at the same time.

On the other hand, this can be realized by shooting a moving image, andextracting still images from the moving image at timings regarding whicheach user has instructed photography. For example, there is a methodwhere a moving image shot by a camera is recorded in a memory card,switching the camera to playback mode after shooting, and recordingimages in the memory card as still images by pressing the shutter buttonwhen a desired image is displayed in the moving image being played(e.g., see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No.2002-165174).

Thus, combining a photography system having an installed camera withtechnology such as described above enables, for example, parents takingphotographs of children playing at a photography spot in an attractionor the like, using the installed camera. However, the above-describedphotography method has needed further improvement with regard to theperspective of privacy.

SUMMARY

In one general aspect, the techniques disclosed here feature aphotography control method of a photography control system. The methodincludes: acquiring first subject information indicating that a subjectis in an area including a photography spot; photographing, using aphotographing camera installed facing the photography spot, thephotography spot to obtain one or more sets of photography data uponacquiring the first subject information; temporarily saving the one ormore sets of photography data, taken by the photographing camera, in atemporary photography data storage unit; acquiring identificationinformation identifying the subject; extracting, from the one or moresets of photography data temporarily saved in the temporary photographydata storage unit, at least one set of photography data corresponding tothe identification information acquired in the acquiring ofidentification information; and saving the extracted at least one set ofphotography data in a photography data storage unit in a mannerassociated with the identification information of the subject.

According to the present disclosure, a user knowing identificationinformation identifying a subject can acquire at least one set ofphotography data of a subject at a photography spot, while preventingactivities such as secret photographing or the like by a third party.

It should be noted that general or specific embodiments may beimplemented as a system, a method, an integrated circuit, a computerprogram, a storage medium, or any selective combination thereof.

Additional benefits and advantages of the disclosed embodiments willbecome apparent from the specification and drawings. The benefits and/oradvantages may be individually obtained by the various embodiments andfeatures of the specification and drawings, which need not all beprovided in order to obtain one or more of such benefits and/oradvantages.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a scene where aphotography control system according to a first embodiment of thepresent disclosure is being used;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the external view of an example of aphotographing camera illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the external view of an example of aphotographing terminal illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the external view of an example of anaccepting terminal illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the external view of an example of asubject identification barcode card used in the photography controlsystem according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of how a photographer wouldperform photography using a mobile terminal instead of the photographingterminal illustrating in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the configurationof the photography control system according to the first embodiment ofthe present disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a time chart illustrating an example of the flow of time inprimary photography processing in the photography control systemillustrated in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of photographydata taken in primary photography processing in the photography controlsystem illustrated in FIG. 7;

FIGS. 10A through 10F are diagrams illustrating examples of a tablemanaging correlation between subject IDs and photography data, inprimary photography processing in the photography control systemillustrated in FIG. 7;

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a table managingcorrelation between subject IDs and photography data, in primaryphotography processing in the photography control system illustrated inFIG. 7;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an example of procedures of primaryphotography processing in the photography control system illustrated inFIG. 7;

FIG. 13 is a time chart illustrating an example of the flow of time insecondary photography processing in the photography control systemillustrated in FIG. 7;

FIG. 14 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of photographydata taken in secondary photography processing in the photographycontrol system illustrated in FIG. 7;

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an example of a table managingcorrelation between subject IDs, photography time, photographyinstructions and photography data, in secondary photography processingin the photography control system illustrated in FIG. 7;

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating an example of procedures ofsecondary photography processing in the photography control systemillustrated in FIG. 7;

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an example of a scene where aphotography control system according to a second embodiment of thepresent disclosure is being used;

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating an instance of performing photographyin the scene in FIG. 17 where the photography control system is beingused;

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating an example of a subject wearing asubject identification barcode tag illustrated in FIG. 18;

FIG. 20 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the configurationof the photography control system according to the second embodiment ofthe present disclosure;

FIG. 21 is a time chart illustrating an example of the flow of time inprimary photography processing in the photography control systemillustrated in FIG. 20;

FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating an example of a table managingphotography data in primary photography processing in the photographycontrol system illustrated in FIG. 20;

FIG. 23 is a flowchart illustrating an example of procedures of primaryphotography processing in the photography control system illustrated inFIG. 20;

FIG. 24 is a diagram illustrating an example of a table managingcorrelation between subject IDs and photography data, in secondaryphotography processing in the photography control system illustrated inFIG. 20;

FIG. 25 is a flowchart illustrating an example of procedures ofsecondary photography processing in the photography control systemillustrated in FIG. 20;

FIG. 26 is a diagram illustrating an example of a scene where aphotography control system according to a third embodiment of thepresent disclosure is being used;

FIG. 27 is a diagram illustrating an instance of performing photographyin the scene in FIG. 26 where the photography control system is beingused;

FIG. 28 is a diagram illustrating the external view of an example of asubject identification wristband worn by a subject, as illustrated inFIG. 27;

FIG. 29 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the configurationof the photography control system according to the third embodiment ofthe present disclosure;

FIG. 30 is a diagram illustrating an example of a table managingcorrelation between subject IDs and photography data, in photographyprocessing in the photography control system illustrated in FIG. 29; and

FIG. 31 is a flowchart illustrating an example of procedures ofphotography processing in the photography control system illustrated inFIG. 29.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Underlying Knowledge Forming Basis of the PresentDisclosure

The above-described Japanese Unexamined Patent Application PublicationNo. 11-215421 has an operating terminal (e.g., remote controller) lentto the user, and photography is performed by the installed camera underinstructions from the operating terminal. Accordingly, a third partyunrelated to the subject can use the installed camera to performphotography and acquire photography data, which is undesirable from theperspective of privacy.

In the above-described Japanese Unexamined Patent ApplicationPublication No. 2002-165174, and images are recorded in a memory card asstill images by pressing the shutter button when a desired image isdisplayed in the moving image being played, so moving images can betaken of multiple children playing at a photography spot in anattraction using an installed camera, and each parent can acquire stillimages of their respective children from the moving image. However, acertain parent can acquire still images of children not their own, whichis undesirable from the perspective of privacy, in the same way asdescribed above. Further, photography data unrelated to the subjectregarding which photographing is desired wastefully consumes storagecapacity of the storage device for photography.

The present disclosure provides a photography control method, aphotography control system, and a photography control server, in which auser knowing identification information identifying a subject canacquire photography data of a subject at a photography spot, whilepreventing activities such as secret photographing or the like by athird party that does not know the identification information.

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a photography controlmethod is a photography control method of a photography control system.The photography control method includes: acquiring first subjectinformation indicating that a subject is in an area including aphotography spot; photographing, using a photographing camera installedfacing the photography spot, the photography spot to obtain one or moresets of photography data upon acquiring the first subject information;temporarily saving the one or more sets of photography data, taken bythe photographing camera, in a temporary photography data storage unit;acquiring identification information identifying the subject;extracting, from the one or more sets of photography data temporarilysaved in the temporary photography data storage unit, at least one setof photography data corresponding to the identification informationacquired in the acquiring of identification information; and saving theextracted at least one set of photography data in a photography datastorage unit in a manner associated with the identification informationof the subject.

According to this configuration, when first subject informationindicating that a subject is in an area including a photography spot isacquired, one or more sets of photography data taken by thephotographing camera installed facing the photography spot aretemporarily saved in the temporary photography data storage unit. Inthis case, the one or more sets of photography data may includephotography data where the subject has been photographed at thephotography spot. In the photography control method, identificationinformation identifying the subject is acquired, at least one set ofphotography data corresponding to the acquired identificationinformation of the subject is extracted from the one or more sets ofphotography data temporarily saved in the temporary photography datastorage unit, and the extracted at least one set of photography data issaved in the photography data storage unit in a manner associated withthe identification information of the subject. Accordingly, only a userwho knows the identification information identifying the subject canacquire photography data taken of the subject at the photography spotthat corresponds to the identification information of the subject.

As a result, in the photography control system that performs photographyusing a photographing camera installed facing a photography spot, a userthat knows identification information identifying a subject can acquirephotography data corresponding to the identification information.Accordingly, the user can acquire photography data taken of the subjectat the photography spot, and a third party that does not know theidentification information cannot acquire the photography data taken ofthe subject at the photography spot, thereby preventing activities suchas secret photographing or the like by a third party.

In the acquiring of first subject information, information that is thesame information that the identification information indicates may beacquired as the subject information. The first subject information maybe acquired when the subject enters the area.

According to this configuration, when a subject enters an area includinga photography spot, photography of the subject by the photographingcamera can be started automatically upon acquiring the first subjectinformation, and images where the subject has been photographed can beacquired from the one or more sets of photography data that have beentaken.

In the acquiring of the first subject information, moving body detectioninformation indicating that a moving body in the area has been detectedmay be acquired as the first subject information.

According to this configuration, photography of the subject is startedeven without the subject or user explicitly instructing starting ofphotography, and images where the subject has been photographed can beacquired from the one or more sets of photography data that has beentaken.

In the acquiring of the first subject information, the identificationinformation acquired in the acquiring of the identification informationmay be acquired as the first subject information.

According to this configuration, in a case where the user is the subjecthim/herself, a photography instruction can be given at a photographyspot at a desired timing.

In the photographing, the photography spot may be taken by thephotographing camera repeatedly at a predetermined time interval. Thephotographing may be ended when a certain amount of time has elapsedfrom starting of photography.

According to this configuration, photography is automatically stoppedeven if the subject does not perform notification of identificationinformation when leaving the area.

The photography control method may further include: temporarily savingfirst time information in the temporary photography data storage unit,the first time information indicating a first time at which the firstsubject information was acquired; the photography spot may be taken bythe photographing camera repeatedly at a predetermined time interval.The one or more sets of photography data, to be obtained in thephotographing, may be a plurality of sets of photography data of whichphotography times taken by the photographing camera are different fromeach other. In the extracting, one set of photography data, of which aphotography time matches a time at which the identification informationwas acquired in the acquiring of identification information, may beextracted from the plurality of sets of photography data temporarilysaved in the temporary photography data storage unit.

According to this configuration, the procedures for extractingphotography data where the subject has been taken, from the temporaryphotography data storage unit, can be reduced from the two steps ofinputting identification information of the subject and inputtinginstructions to extract the photography data, to the one step of justinputting identification information of the subject.

The photography control method may further include: temporarily savingthe first subject information and first time information in thetemporary photography data storage unit, the first time informationindicating a first time at which the first subject information wasacquired; acquiring second subject information which is the sameinformation as the first subject information when the subject exits fromthe area; temporarily saving second time information in the temporaryphotography data storage unit, the second time information indicating asecond time at which the second subject information was acquired. In thephotographing, the photography spot may be taken by the photographingcamera repeatedly at a predetermined time interval. The one or more setsof photography data, to be obtained in the photographing, may be aplurality of sets of photography data of which photography times takenby the photographing camera are different from each other. The acquiringof the identification information, third time information may beacquired in addition to the identification information, the third timeinformation may indicates a third time which is instructed by a user.The third time may be a time between the first time and the second time.In the extracting, one set of photography data of which a photographytime matches the third time, may be extracted, as the at least one setof photography data, from the plurality of sets of photography datatemporarily saved in the temporary photography data storage unit.

According to this configuration, in a case where the user instructsextracting while directly viewing the subject, as a photographyinstruction, photography data of a desired timing can be acquired fromthe photography data temporarily saved in the temporary photography datastorage unit.

In the photographing, the photography spot may be taken by thephotographing camera repeatedly at a predetermined time interval. Theone or more sets of photography data, to be obtained in thephotographing, may be a plurality of sets of photography data of whichphotography times taken by the photographing camera are different fromeach other. In the extracting, one set of photography data of which aphotography time is instructed by a user may be extracted, as the atleast one set of photography data, from the plurality of sets ofphotography data temporarily saved in the temporary photography datastorage unit.

According to this configuration, even in a case where time has elapsedfrom taking the photography data to extracting the photography data,photography data of a desired timing can be acquired while viewing thephotography data.

In the photographing, the photography spot may be taken by thephotographing camera repeatedly at a predetermined time interval. Theone or more sets of photography data, to be obtained in thephotographing, may be a plurality of sets of photography data of whichphotography times taken by the photographing camera are different fromeach other. In the acquiring of the identification information, theidentification information may be acquired from at least one set ofphotography data which includes information corresponding to theidentification information and which is one of the plurality of sets ofphotography data stored in the temporary photography data storage unit.In the extracting, the at least one set of photography data, from whichthe identification information was acquired, may be extracted from thetemporary photography data storage unit.

According to this configuration, there is no acquisition of photographydata in a time period during which the subject specified byidentification information is not at the photography spot.

In the acquiring of the identification information, the identificationinformation may be acquired by detecting the information correspondingto the identification information from the at least one set ofphotography data.

According to this configuration, just photography data including thesubject specified by identification information can be extracted fromthe photography data that has been taken.

The identification information may be expressed using a barcode.

According to this configuration, an object having a physical form, onwhich a barcode is printed or the like, is used for identificationinformation, rather than an electronic arrangement, so objects on whichthe same barcode has printed can be used for identification informationheld up when entering the photography spot and identificationinformation in the photography data that is taken, facility recognitionof identification information.

The identification information may be features information indicatingfeatures of a facial image of the subject.

According to this configuration, identification information that thesubject has, and feature information of a facial image of the subjectare associated beforehand, and facial recognition can be used inextracting photography data of the subject from the photography datathat has been taken, so the subject does not have to carry a tag or thelike having a physical form indicating identification information so asto be taken by a photographing camera.

The identification information may have usage conditions where at leastone of the photographing camera that can be used at date and time thatcan be used is restricted.

According to this configuration, photographing cameras that can be usedcan be restricted, and dates and times when usable, can be restricted inaccordance with identification information of the subject. Accordingly,there may be usages such as enabling photography only in a case where ausage fee has been paid for a photographing camera and/or at a date andtime for which a usage fee has been paid, with regard to theidentification information of the subject.

The photography control method may further include notifying a terminaloperated by a user regarding a photography spot where the subject can bephotographed, in a case where the first subject information acquired inthe acquiring of the first subject information and the identificationinformation acquired in the acquiring of the identification informationmatch.

According to this configuration, a terminal which the user operates isnotified of a photography spot when the subject can be photographed, sothe user can know at which photography spot the subject is, by a list ofmultiple photography spots being displayed on a photographing terminal,and the highlighting photography spots where there is an acceptingterminal at the entrance to which the subject has held up a barcode orthe like, for example. Accordingly, the user can perform photography atthat photography spot.

An arrangement may be made where the photographing camera is a pluralityof photographing cameras, the temporary photography data storage unit isa plurality of temporary photography data storage units, in thetemporarily saving, a plurality of sets of photography data taken by theplurality of photographing cameras are temporarily saved in theplurality of temporary photography data storage units, and in theextracting, at least one set of photography data corresponding to theidentification information acquired in the acquiring of identificationinformation, is extracted from the plurality of sets of photography datatemporarily saved in the plurality of temporary photography data storageunits.

According to this configuration, when photography is being performed bymultiple photographing cameras and photography data taken by multiplephotographing cameras is being temporarily saved in multiple temporaryphotography data storage units, photography data of multiplephotographing cameras can be acquired from a single photographingterminal.

In the extracting, the at least one set of photography data is extractedfrom the plurality of sets of photography data temporarily saved in theplurality of temporary photography data storage units, and in thesaving, the at least one set of photography data may be saved in thephotography data storage unit in a manner associated with theidentification information.

According to this configuration, photography data saved in multipletemporary photography data storage units can be collectively saved in asingle photography data storage unit using identification information ofthe subject, so photography data taken by multiple photographing camerascan be acquired from a single photography data storage unit.

The photographing camera may be a plurality of photographing cameras,and in the temporarily saving, the plurality of sets of photography datataken by the plurality of photographing cameras may be temporarily savedin the temporary photography data storage unit.

According to this configuration, multiple sets of photography data takenby multiple photographing cameras can be collectively acquired from asingle photographing terminal.

The photographing camera may include a plurality of photographingcameras that photograph the photography spot in photography statesdifferent from each other, and in the photographing, a photographyinstruction may be given to the plurality of photographing cameras atthe same time.

According to this configuration, the subject at the photography spot canbe photographed in photography states different from each other at thesame time, so the subject can be photographed from multiple angles atthe same time, or photographed at different zoom ratios at the sametime, for example.

The present disclosure is not restricted to being realized as aphotography control method that executes processing according to theabove-described features, and can also be realized as a photographycontrol system and photography control server or the like havingconfigurations with features corresponding to the processing accordingto the features executed in the photography control method. Accordingly,the following aspect can yield the same advantages as theabove-described photography control method.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a photographycontrol system is a photography control system. The photography controlsystem includes: a photographing camera installed facing a photographyspot; a subject information acquisition unit that acquires first subjectinformation indicating that a subject is present in an area includingthe photography spot; a primary photography control unit that controlsthe photographing camera; a temporary photography data storage unit thattemporarily saves one or more sets of photography data taken by thephotographing camera; an identification information acquisition unitthat acquires identification information identifying the subject; asecondary photography control unit that extracts at least one set ofphotography data from the temporary photography data storage unit; and aphotography data storage unit that saves the at least one set ofphotography data extracted by the secondary photography control unit.When the subject information acquisition unit acquires the first subjectinformation, the primary photography control unit controls thephotographing camera to take the photography spot, and saves one or moresets of photography data taken by the photographing camera in thetemporary photography data storage unit. The secondary photographycontrol unit extracts at least one set of photography data correspondingto identification information of the subject acquired by theidentification information acquisition unit, out of one or more sets ofphotography data temporarily saved in the temporary photography datastorage unit, and saves the extracted at least one set of photographydata in the photography data storage unit in a manner associated withthe identification information of the subject.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a photographycontrol server. The photography control server includes: a subjectinformation acquisition unit that acquires subject informationindicating that a subject is present in an area including a photographyspot; a primary photography control unit that controls a photographingcamera installed facing the photography spot; a temporary photographydata storage unit that temporarily saves one or more sets of photographydata taken by the photographing camera; an identification informationacquisition unit that acquires identification information identifyingthe subject; a secondary photography control unit that extracts at leastone set of photography data from the temporary photography data storageunit; and a photography data storage unit that saves the at least oneset of photography data extracted by the secondary photography controlunit. When the subject information acquisition unit acquires the subjectinformation, the primary photography control unit controls thephotographing camera to take the photography spot, and saves one or moresets of photography data taken by the photographing camera in thetemporary photography data storage unit. The secondary photographycontrol unit extracts at least one set of photography data correspondingto identification information of the subject acquired by theidentification information acquisition unit, out of one or more sets ofphotography data saved in the temporary photography data storage unit,and saves the extracted at least one set of photography data in thephotography data storage unit in a manner associated with theidentification information of the subject.

It should be noted that the present disclosure may be realized as acomputer program causing a computer to execute characteristic processingincluded in a photography control method such as described above. It isneedless to say that such a computer program may be distributed via anon-transitory computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM orthe like, or a communication network such as the Internet or the like.

Note that the embodiments described below all illustrate specificexamples of the present disclosure. Values, shapes, components, steps,orders of steps, and so forth in the following embodiments are onlyexemplary, and do not restrict the present disclosure. Components in thefollowing embodiments which are not included in an independent Claimindicating the highest concept are described as being optionalcomponents. Also, in all of the embodiments, the contents of each can becombined.

The photography control system according to embodiments of the presentdisclosure will be described with reference to the drawings.

1. First Embodiment

A photography control system according to a first embodiment of thepresent disclosure provides users with photograph data taken byphotographing cameras installed at photography spots in theme parks,amusement facilities, sightseeing destinations, and so forth. Thepresent embodiment is a system to realize a service where a photographerwho is a user uses a photographing terminal or individually-owned mobileterminal, and is provided with photography data such as a photograph orthe like that the photographer is satisfied with, out of one or moresets of photography data taken by the photography camera. The presentembodiment will be described by way of an example where pavilions in anamusement facility are photography points, and photographs of a child(subject) of a photographer (user) who is playing at the photographyspot are taken by a photographing camera. Note that in the presentembodiment, a “pavilion” refers to an individual amusement area providedin a theme park or the like, and is a closed area with predeterminedentrance(s)/exit(s).

1-1. Overview

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a scene where aphotography control system according to the first embodiment of thepresent disclosure is being used. In FIG. 1, a pavilion 10 is an areaincluding a photography spot. The pavilion 10 is provided with apavilion entrance 11 and a pavilion exit 12. An accepting terminal 15 isinstalled near each of the pavilion entrance 11 and pavilion exit 12. Aphotographing camera 13 is installed in the pavilion 10, facing toward aphotography spot. Photographing terminals 14 and accepting terminals 15are also installed outside of the pavilion 10.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the external view of an example of thephotographing camera 13 illustrated in FIG. 1. The photographing camera13 installed in the pavilion 10 is attached to a pole 13 a, and isinstalled at an angle where it can take photographs of people inside thepavilion 10, as illustrated in FIG. 2. The photographing camera 13 maybe attached to other than the pole 13 a. Upon receiving a photographyinstruction, the photographing camera 13 photographs (or takes) aphotography spot once. Alternatively, the photographing camera 13 mayphotograph the photography spot repeatedly at a certain time intervalupon receiving a photography instruction. The certain time interval maybe an optional value.

The photographing camera 13 also correlates information relating to thephotography time when photography of the photography spot was performed(also referred to as “photography time information”) and photographydata. The photography time information may be separate from thecorresponding photography data, or may be included in the photographydata. Thus, photography data can be identified based on the photographytime. Description will be made hereinafter regarding an example wherethe photography data taken by the photographing camera 13 is correlatedwith the photography time.

In a case of a configuration where the photographing camera 13 performsphotography just once upon receiving a photography instruction, thephotography data acquired by the photography includes image datacorresponding to a still image (also referred to as “photograph data”).In a case of a configuration where the photographing camera 13 repeatsphotography upon receiving a photography instruction, description willbe made regarding a case where the frames acquired by each photographingis an image frame corresponding to a still image. For example, reducingthe time interval of the photographing camera 13 performing photographyenables playback like a moving image by continuously displaying themultiple sets of photography data acquired by photographing in order ofphotography time. Each time the photographing camera 13 performsphotography, one or more sets of photography data is obtained.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the external view of an example of aphotographing terminal 14 illustrated in FIG. 1. The photographingterminal 14 is attached to a pole 14 a, as illustrated in FIG. 3.Multiple photographing terminals 14 are installed outside of thepavilion 10, as illustrated in FIG. 1. Although FIG. 1 illustratesmultiple photographing terminals 14 being installed outside of thepavilion 10, this is not restrictive. It is sufficient for onephotographing terminal 14 to be installed outside of the pavilion 10.Note that one who operates a photographing terminal 14 is referred to aphotographer here. The photographer can use a photographing terminal 14to give photography instructions while viewing photography data taken bythe photographing camera 13 as images, if later-described conditions aresatisfied. Details regarding photography instruction will be describedlater. Although description will be made in the present embodimentregarding an example where people inside the pavilion 10 are children,this is not restrictive. People inside the pavilion 10 may be adults,for example. Although description will be made in the present embodimentregarding an example where the photographer is a parent of a childinside the pavilion 10, this is not restrictive. For example, thephotographer may be an acquaintance of the person within the pavilion10. Further, a person inside the pavilion 10 may exit from the pavilionexit 12 and thereafter operate the photographing terminal 14. In thiscase, the person who was inside the pavilion 10 becomes thephotographer.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the external view of an example of anaccepting terminal 15 illustrated in FIG. 1. As illustrated in FIG. 4,the accepting terminal 15 is attached to a pole 15 a, and one each isplaced at the pavilion entrance 11 and pavilion exit 12, as illustratedin FIG. 1. The accepting terminal 15 installed at the pavilion entrance11 detects people entering from the pavilion entrance 11, for example.The accepting terminal 15 installed at the pavilion exit 12 detectspeople exiting from the pavilion exit 12, for example.

The photographing camera 13, photographing terminals 14, and acceptingterminals 15, are each connected by network, and are capable ofexchanging necessary information with each other by communication. Thephotographing camera 13, photographing terminals 14, and acceptingterminals 15 are each connected with a photography control server 20 vianetwork. Details of the photography control server 20 will be describedlater. As a matter of course, the photographing camera 13, photographingterminals 14, accepting terminals 15, and the later-describedphotography control server 20, each have communication units (omittedfrom illustration), and use these communication units to transmit andreceive necessary information to and from each other. Note that thecommunication unit may include a communication circuit.

In order to simplify description, the transmission of information by thecommunication unit of the photographing camera 13 will be referred to asthe photographing camera 13 outputting information, and the reception ofinformation by the communication unit of the photographing camera 13will be referred to as the photographing camera 13 receiving (oracquiring) information. Information that the photographing camera 13outputs and receives will be described in detail later.

Also, the transmission of information by the communication unit of thephotographing terminal 14 will be referred to as the photographingterminal 14 outputting information, and the reception of information bythe communication unit of the photographing terminal 14 will be referredto as the photographing terminal 14 receiving (or acquiring)information. Information that the photographing terminal 14 outputs andreceives will be described in detail later.

Also, the transmission of information by the communication unit of theaccepting terminal 15 will be referred to as the accepting terminal 15outputting information, and the reception of information by thecommunication unit of the accepting terminal 15 will be referred to asthe accepting terminal 15 receiving (or acquiring) information.Information that the accepting terminal 15 outputs and receives will bedescribed in detail later.

Further, the transmission of information by the communication unit ofthe photography control server 20 will be referred to as the photographycontrol server 20 outputting information, and the reception ofinformation by the communication unit of the photography control server20 will be referred to as the photography control server 20 receiving(or acquiring) information. Information that the photography controlserver 20 outputs and receives will be described in detail later.

This network includes a network corresponding to the Internet, so thatphotography data taken by the photographing camera 13 can be provided toa mobile terminal that the photographer owns, via the Internet. Thenetwork includes at least one of a wireless network and a wired network.

In the present embodiment, people inside the pavilion 10 are thesubjects. Cards on which a barcode, a linear barcode for example, isprinted, are used as identification information of the subjects, foridentifying people who are subjects (hereinafter referred to as “subjectID”). This card is also referred to as “subject identification barcodecard”. A subject identification barcode card is given to each person whowill be a subject, before entering the pavilion 10. This person holdsthe subject identification barcode up to the accepting terminal 15installed at the pavilion entrance 11 before entering the pavilion 10.

The identification information of the subject may be represented using abarcode, and the subject identification barcode card may have a barcodewith a physical form printed or the like. The barcode is not restrictedto the above-described linear barcode, and other barcodes may be used,such as Quick Response (QR) code (a registered trademark for a type ofmatrix barcode), a color barcode, or the like.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the external view of an example of thesubject identification barcode card used in the photography controlsystem 1 according to the present embodiment. A barcode indicating thesubject ID is printed on the subject identification barcode card 16illustrated in FIG. 5. The value of the barcode indicating the subjectID in FIG. 5 is “AFH3G7GH”, for example. The photographer uses thissubject ID to perform photography of a person having the subjectidentification barcode card 16 of this subject ID, and acquisition ofthe photography data that has been taken. Note that when multiple peopleare to enter the pavilion 10, the values of the subject IDs of thesubject identification barcode cards 16 given to these people are eachdifferent from each other.

Referencing FIG. 1 again, a person who is to be a subject holds thesubject identification barcode card 16 up to the accepting terminal 15installed at the pavilion entrance 11 when entering the pavilion 10,upon which the accepting terminal 15 performs later-described entryprocessing to the pavilion 10. Entry processing includes, for example,processing of reading the barcode printed on the subject identificationbarcode card 16 and detecting (or acquiring) the value that the barcodeindicates (subject ID), and processing of outputting the detectedsubject ID to the photography control server 20 as subject information.The subject information, which is output from the accepting terminal 15installed at the pavilion entrance 11, is referred to as first subjectinformation.

When exiting from the pavilion 10, a person who is a subject holds thesubject identification barcode card 16 up to the accepting terminal 15installed at the pavilion exit 12, upon which later-described exitprocessing from the pavilion 10 is performed by the accepting terminal15. Exit processing includes, for example, processing of reading thebarcode printed on the subject identification barcode card 16 anddetecting (or acquiring) the subject ID, and processing of outputtingthe detected subject ID as subject information. The subject information,which is output from the accepting terminal 15 installed at the pavilionexit 12, is referred to as second subject information.

Description will be made by way of an example where the person who is tobe the subject is a child, and the photographer is the parent of thischild. In a case where there is at least one person in the pavilion 10,which is the photography spot, who has held the subject identificationbarcode card 16 up to the accepting terminal 15 and entered, thephotographing camera 13 starts photography or continues photography.When there is not even one person left that has entered the photographyspot, the photographing camera 13 stops (or ends) photography. Uponreceiving an instruction for photography, for example, the photographingcamera 13 may start photography. Upon receiving an instruction to stopphotography, for example, the photographing camera 13 may stopphotography.

The photography data taken by the photographing camera 13 can be laterclipped as photography data (still image data) or clipped as movingimage data. However, this does not mean that all such data is presentedto the photographer as it is. By the photographer inputting the subjectID of the subject identification barcode card 16 for the child of thephotographer to the photographing terminal 14, the photographingterminal 14 receives, of one or more photography data sets taken by thephotographing camera 13, only photography data of the time period wherethe child of the photographer was in the pavilion 10. The photographingterminal 14 displays photography data of the time period where the childwas in the pavilion 10, on a display. The photography data can thus viewthe received photography data. The photographer can further operate thephotographing terminal 14 to further input an instruction to acquirephotography data that the photographer wants out of the photography datadisplayed on the display (also referred to as “photographyinstruction”), and thus acquire a still image of moving image of thechild who is the subject.

For example, a case will be assumed where the photographing camera 13has repeatedly taken photographs of people in the pavilion 10 at apredetermined interval (e.g., every 1/60 seconds), from 10:10 AM to10:35 AM, thereby yielding multiple sets of photography data. This meansthat at least one person serving as a subject has been in the pavilion10 from 10:10 AM to 10:35 AM. The multiple sets of photography datataken by the photographing camera 13 from 10:10 AM to 10:35 AM istemporarily stored in first memory of the photography control server 20(omitted from illustration) which will be described later, for example.

Further, the multiple sets of photography data are temporarily stored inthe first memory of the photography control server 20 in a manner wherethe subject ID of this person and information relating to the time overwhich this person was in the pavilion 10 are associated, so thatphotography data of the time period where the person serving as thesubject was in the pavilion 10 can be extracted therefrom. The subjectID of the person is the value indicated by the barcode printed on thesubject identification barcode card 16 that this person has. The personof the subject ID is the person having the subject identificationbarcode card 16 on which is printed the barcode, the value thereof beingthe subject ID.

For example, in a case where the person of subject ID1 is a child, andthis child has been in the pavilion 10 from 10:15 AM to 10:20 AM, andthe photographer who is the parent of this child inputs the subject ID1to the photographing terminal 14, the input subject ID1 is output to thephotography control server 20 as subject identification information. Thephotography control server 20 extracts one or more sets of photographydata associated with the subject ID indicated by the subjectidentification information, out of the one or more sets of photographydata temporarily saved in the first memory, and outputs to thephotographing terminal 14. The extracted photography data is photographydata taken in the time period over which the person of the subject IDwas in the pavilion 10. Although it is sufficient for the number of setsof photography data extracted to be one or more, a case where multiplesets of photography data are extracted will be described.

The photographing terminal 14 displays the multiple sets of photographydata that have been received on a display (omitted from illustration) inthe order of the time of photography, for example. Thus, thephotographer operating the photographing terminal 14 can view thephotography data displayed on the display. The photographer viewing thephotography data further operates the photographing terminal 14, andinstructs acquisition of photography data that the photographer wants,out of the photography data displayed on the display. This instruction(photography instruction) is output to the photography control server20. The photography control server 20 that has received the photographyinstruction extracts the instructed one or more sets of photography datafrom the multiple sets of photography data temporarily saved, associatesthe extracted photography data with the subject ID indicated by thesubject identification information and the photography time, and savesin second memory (omitted from illustration).

For example, the photographer can acquire photography data taken at10:17 AM when the child having the card with subject ID1 was in thepavilion 10, but cannot acquire photography data taken at 10:13 AM whenthe child having the subject identification barcode card 16 with subjectID1 was not in the pavilion 10. The reason is that the subject ID1 isnot associated with photography data taken at 10:13 AM. As a matter ofcourse, the photographer cannot acquire photography data at 10:40 AMwhen the photographing camera 13 was not performing photography. Thereason is that such photography data is not temporarily saved in thephotography control server 20 to begin with.

Also, the photography control server 20 may output photography data,regarding which a photography instruction has been given, to a cloud(omitted from illustration) server dedicated to subject IDs, on theInternet, for example. This cloud server saves the photography data inmemory (omitted from illustration). The photographer may operate his/herown mobile terminal (omitted from illustration) to access the memory ofthe cloud server for example, and thus acquire photography data ofphotographs of the child of the photographer.

The photographer may operate his/her own mobile terminal to access thephotography data associated with the subject ID1 saved in the secondmemory of the photography control server 20, and thus acquirephotography data of photographs of the child of the photographer, forexample, from the photography control server 20. In a case of havingreceived the subject ID1 form the mobile terminal, the photographycontrol server 20 may permit access to the photography data associatedwith the subject ID1. The mobile terminal may display acquiredphotography data on a display (omitted from illustration) of the mobileterminal, save the photography data in memory (omitted fromillustration) of the mobile terminal, and so forth.

Thus, in the photography control system according to the presentembodiment, the photographing camera 13 photographs the photography spotby the child of the photographer notifying the photography controlsystem 1 (more specifically, the photography control server 20) thathe/she (the subject) is in the pavilion 10 that is the photography spot,using the subject identification barcode card 16. Accordingly, one ormore sets of photography data that the photographing camera 13 has takenmay include photography data including the person who is the subject atthe photography spot. The photographer can thus acquire photography dataof a desired timing, out of the one or more sets of photography datataken by the photographing camera 13 at the time period during which theperson serving as a subject was at the photography spot.

Note that if the mobile terminal that the photographer owns is capableof providing functions equivalent of the functions provided by thephotographing terminal 14, the photography control system according tothe present embodiment may use this mobile terminal as the photographingterminal 14. Functions provided by the photographing terminal 14 mayinclude, for example, a function of inputting the subject ID of thechild of the photographer and outputting the input subject ID to thephotography control system 1, a function of instructing acquisition ofphotography data, and so forth.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of how a photographer wouldperform photography using a personally-owned mobile terminal such as asmartphone or the like, as the photographing terminal 14. Thephotographer owns a mobile terminal 17, as illustrated in FIG. 6. Forexample, the photographer installs a program having functions equivalentto those of the photographing terminal 14 in the mobile terminal 17, andinputs the subject ID of the card of a person serving as a subject tothe program. In this case, functions equivalent to those of thephotographing terminal 14 can be used via the Internet via the mobileterminal 17 of the photographer.

1-2. Configuration

Next, the configuration of the photography control system according tothe present embodiment will be described. FIG. 7 is a block diagramillustrating an example of the configuration of the photography controlsystem according to the present embodiment. The photography controlsystem 1 illustrated in FIG. 7 has the photographing camera 13,photographing terminal 14, accepting terminal 15, and photographycontrol server 20. The accepting terminal 15 includes a subjectinformation detecting unit 21, and the photographing terminal 14includes a subject identification information input unit 22. Thephotography control server 20 includes a temporary photography datastorage unit 24, a primary photography control unit 25, a secondaryphotography control unit 26, and a photography data storage unit 27.

Although the photography control system 1 uses the accepting terminal 15installed at the pavilion entrance 11 and the accepting terminal 15installed at the pavilion exit 12, i.e., two accepting terminals 15,FIG. 7 only illustrates one accepting terminal 15, to simplify thedrawing. Further, the photographing camera 13, photographing terminals14 and accepting terminals 15, and photography control server 20 areconnected via network through certain communication units to be able toexchange necessary information with each other by communication, but thecommunication units of each have been omitted from illustration tosimplify the drawing.

The hardware configuration of the photography control server 20 is thatof a computer having a processor such as a central processing unit(CPU), memory storing programs, and a communication circuit. Theprocessor executes programs, whereby the computer functions as thephotography control server 20.

The subject identification information input unit 22 of thephotographing terminal 14 has a photography button built in. Note,however, that the photography button has been omitted from illustration,to simplify the drawing.

The accepting terminal 15 includes the subject information detectingunit 21. Examples of the subject information detecting unit 21 include abarcode reader. The barcode reader reads a barcode printed on thesubject identification barcode card 16, and detects (or acquires) thevalue (subject ID) that the barcode indicates. The accepting terminal 15outputs the acquired subject ID to the photography control server 20 assubject information.

The accepting terminal 15 may include a timer (omitted fromillustration). In this case, the accepting terminal 15 may identify thetime (detection time) at which the subject ID was detected by thesubject information detecting unit 21, using the timer, and output thesubject information and the detection time of identification to thephotography control server 20.

When outputting the subject information to the photography controlserver 20, the accepting terminal 15 may transmit information foridentifying the accepting terminal 15 along with the subjectinformation. At least one of the detection time and the information foridentifying the accepting terminal 15 may be output included in thesubject information. The subject information and detection time that thephotography control server 20 has received is output to the primaryphotography control unit 25.

The hardware configuration of the accepting terminal 15 is that of acomputer having a processor such as a CPU, memory storing programs, acommunication circuit, and a barcode reader. The processor executesprograms, whereby the computer functions as the accepting terminal 15.

As described above, the accepting terminal 15 is installed at each ofthe pavilion entrance 11 and pavilion exit 12 in the present embodiment.When a child entering the pavilion 10 holds the subject identificationbarcode card 16 up to the accepting terminal 15 at the pavilion entrance11, the accepting terminal 15 acquires the subject ID. This acceptingterminal 15 then outputs this to the photography control server 20 assubject information. The photography control server 20 outputs thereceived subject information to the primary photography control unit 25.Thus, the primary photography control unit 25 can receive (or acquire)subject information from the accepting terminal 15 at the pavilionentrance 11.

The subject information output from the accepting terminal 15 at thepavilion entrance 11 also is information indicating that the personhaving the subject identification barcode card 16 of the subject ID thatthe subject information indicates has entered the pavilion 10, i.e.,that this person is in the pavilion 10. In description hereinafter, theperson having the subject identification barcode card 16 of the subjectID may also be referred to as the person of the subject ID.

When a person exiting the pavilion 10 holds the subject identificationbarcode card 16 up to the accepting terminal 15 at the pavilion exit 12,the accepting terminal 15 acquires the subject ID. This acceptingterminal 15 then outputs this subject ID to the photography controlserver 20 as subject information. The photography control server 20outputs the subject information received from the accepting terminal 15at the pavilion exit 12 to the primary photography control unit 25.Accordingly, the primary photography control unit 25 can receive (oracquire) the subject information from the accepting terminal 15 at thepavilion exit 12. The subject information output from the acceptingterminal 15 at the pavilion exit 12 indicates that the person of thesubject ID that the subject information indicates has exited from thepavilion 10.

Upon receiving subject information from the subject informationdetecting unit 21 that the subject has entered/exited the photographyspot, the primary photography control unit 25 performs photographycontrol of the photographing camera 13. For example, in a case ofreceiving subject information from the accepting terminal 15 at thepavilion entrance 11 in a state where there is not a single personserving as a subject at the photography spot, the primary photographycontrol unit 25 outputs an instruction to start photography by thephotographing camera 13 (referred to as a “start photographyinstruction”). The photography control server 20 outputs the startphotography instruction to the photographing camera 13. Upon receiving(or acquiring) this start photography instruction, the photographingcamera 13 starts photography. Each time photography is performed, thephotographing camera 13 associates the photography data obtained therebywith photography time of the photography data. Description will be madewith the understanding that the photography time is associated with thephotography data, although this is not mentioned in particular in thefollowing description.

The photographing camera 13 successively outputs the taken photographydata to the photography control server 20. The primary photographycontrol unit 25 successively temporarily stores the photography datareceived (or acquired) by the photography control server 20 in thetemporary photography data storage unit 24. The photography data thus issuccessively added to the temporary photography data storage unit 24.

The primary photography control unit 25 also identifies the time atwhich the subject information was received (start time) using a timer(omitted from illustration) that the photography control server 20 has.The start time is also referred to as first time. In a case where theprimary photography control unit 25 receives subject information anddetection time (the time at which the subject ID that the subjectinformation indicates was detected) output from the accepting terminal15 installed at the pavilion entrance 11, this detection time may beused as the start time. The reason is that the detection time and thestart time can be viewed as being the same time.

The start time for the subject ID corresponding to the person enteringthe pavilion 10 first may be used as a time at which the primaryphotography control unit 25 instructs starting of photography, or a timeat which the photographing camera 13 actually starts photography. Thereason is that the above-described detection time, time of receiving thesubject information, time of instructing starting of photography, andtime of starting photography, can all be viewed as being the same time.The primary photography control unit 25 temporarily saves, in thetemporary photography data storage unit 24, information associating thesubject ID and start time information with the photography data as atable. The start time information indicates the start time. The starttime information is also referred to as first time information.

Upon receiving subject information from the accepting terminal 15 at thepavilion exit 12, the primary photography control unit 25 uses a time(omitted from illustration) that the photography control server 20 hasto identify the time at which the subject information was received (endtime). The end time is also referred to as a second time. The primaryphotography control unit 25 has received the same subject ID from theaccepting terminal 15 at the pavilion entrance 11 as the subject IDindicating the subject information. Accordingly, information relating tothe subject ID is already saved in a table in the temporary photographydata storage unit 24.

The primary photography control unit 25 references the table in thetemporary photography data storage unit 24, and identifies the samesubject ID as the subject ID indicating the subject information that hasbeen received from the accepting terminal 15 at the pavilion exit 12.End time information, indicating the end time identified as the end timefor the identified subject ID, is then saved in the table. The end timeinformation is also referred to as second time information. Accordingly,the subject ID, the start time indicated by the start time information,and the end time indicated by the end time information are associatedwith the photography data, using the table.

Saving this information in a table in the temporary photography datastorage unit 24 has the following advantages. For example, in the caseof the above-described identified subject ID, a time period identifiedby the start time and end time associated with this subject ID is thetime period over which the person of the subject ID was in the pavilion10 that serves as the photography spot. Accordingly, the target ofphotography for the photographing camera 13 during this time period isthe person of the subject ID. This means that the target of photographyfor the photographing camera 13 for the duration from the start time tothe end time corresponding to the subject ID is the person of thesubject ID. In other words, of the multiple sets of photography datastored in the temporary photography data storage unit 24, images of theperson of the subject ID may be included in images of photography dataof which the photography time is in the above time period. Accordingly,once the subject ID is identified, photography data taken during thetime period over which the person of the subject ID was in the pavilion10 can be identified out of the multiple sets of photography datatemporarily saved in the table in the temporary photography data storageunit 24, by referencing this table.

In a case where the primary photography control unit 25 receives subjectinformation and detection time (the time at which the subject ID thatthe subject information indicates was detected) output from theaccepting terminal 15 installed at the pavilion exit 12, this detectiontime may be used as the end time. The reason is that the detection timeand the end time can be viewed as being the same time.

Also, in a case of receiving subject information from the acceptingterminal 15 installed at the pavilion exit 12, the primary photographycontrol unit 25 further determines whether or not there is anotherperson serving as a subject at the photography spot. If there is noother person serving as a subject at the photography spot, the primaryphotography control unit 25 outputs an instruction to the photographingcamera 13 to stop photography (referred to as a “stop photographyinstruction”). The photography control server 20 outputs the stopphotography instruction to the photographing camera 13. Upon receivingthis stop photography instruction, the photographing camera 13 stopsphotography. The end time of the subject ID corresponding to the personexiting the pavilion 10 last may be the time at which the primaryphotography control unit 25 instructs stopping of photography, or thetime at which the photographing camera 13 actually stops photography.

The primary photography control unit 25 centrally manages one or moresets of photography data, taken from the start time of the subject IDcorresponding to the person first entering the pavilion 10 and the endtime of the subject ID corresponding to the person leaving the pavilion10 last, in the temporary photography data storage unit 24. Thus, theprimary photography control unit 25 may causes the photographing camera13 to perform photography as long as there is at least one personserving as a subject at the photography spot, and when there is noperson serving as a subject remaining at the photography spot, theprimary photography control unit 25 may cause the photographing camera13 to stop photography.

The primary photography control unit 25 also temporarily stores thephotography data taken by the photographing camera 13 in the temporaryphotography data storage unit 24. The primary photography control unit25 also adds the subject ID indicating the subject information that hasbeen received to the table in the temporary photography data storageunit 24. This enables which time period of photography data has whichsubject ID person as the target of photography to be confirmed at alater time by referencing the table.

Control of photography including starting and stopping of photography isperformed at the photographing camera 13, under the control of theprimary photography control unit 25. For example, the photographingcamera 13 performs all photography in still images, taking 60 frames ofstill images per second, for example. The photographing camera 13associates the photography time at the time of taking the still imageswith the still images.

The photography data that has been taken is successively output to thephotography control server 20. The photography data that the photographycontrol server 20 has received is temporarily saved in the temporaryphotography data storage unit 24, under control of the primaryphotography control unit 25. Alternatively, the photographing camera 13may instruct saving of the photography data. In this case, thisinstruction is output to the primary photography control unit 25. Theprimary photography control unit 25 may temporarily save the photographydata in the temporary photography data storage unit 24 in accordancewith the received instruction.

The temporary photography data storage unit 24 is a memory device (firstmemory) that temporarily saves photography data, e.g., image data suchas still images or moving images, taken by the photographing camera 13.The temporary photography data storage unit 24 is realized bynon-volatile memory such as Ferroelectric Random Access Memory (FeRAM),for example, and has functions of temporary storing photography data.

The photographing terminal 14 includes the subject identificationinformation input unit 22 and a communication unit (omitted fromillustration). The photographing terminal 14 may also have a displaythat is omitted from illustration. The subject identificationinformation input unit 22 has a function of externally acquiringidentification information identifying a subject (subject ID). Thesubject identification information input unit 22 is a keyboard, touchpanel, or the like, for example, and acquires a subject ID input by thekeyboard or touch panel or the like being operated. This configurationenables the subject identification information input unit 22 toexternally acquire subject IDs. The subject identification informationinput unit 22 outputs an acquired subject ID as subject identificationinformation. The photographing terminal 14 outputs this subjectidentification information to the photography control server 20. Thephotography control server 20 outputs the received subjectidentification information to the secondary photography control unit 26.

For example, the subject identification information input unit 22 isprovided as a subject ID input function embedded in a terminal whichmultiple photographers take turns using, such as the photographingterminal 14 illustrated in FIG. 3. Each time a different photographeruses the photographing terminal 14, the touch panel of the photographingterminal 14 is operated by the photographer inputting the subject ID ofthe subject. Alternatively, in a case where the subject identificationinformation input unit 22 is embedded as a part of photography functionsof the individually-owned mobile terminal 17 illustrated in FIG. 6, abarcode reading function of a dedicated program on the mobile terminal17 may be used to photograph the barcode on the subject identificationbarcode card 16 before the subject enters the pavilion 10, and thus havethe subject ID acquired.

The subject identification information input unit 22 further functionsas n input unit for the photographer to input photography instructionsand the like. The subject identification information input unit 22outputs photography instructions that have been input. Upon receiving aphotography instruction from a photographer, the subject identificationinformation input unit 22 outputs a photography instruction. Thephotographing terminal 14 outputs the photography instruction from thesubject identification information input unit 22 to the photographycontrol server 20. The photography control server 20 outputs thereceived photography instruction to the secondary photography controlunit 26. The secondary photography control unit 26 extracts one or moresets of photography data regarding which a photography instruction hasbeen given from the multiple sets of photography data temporarily savedin the temporary photography data storage unit 24, in accordance withthe photography instruction that has been received, and saves theextracted photography data in the photography data storage unit 27.

For example, as the photographer views images of multiple sets ofphotography data taken by the photographing camera 13, which aredisplayed on a display of the photographing terminal 14 or mobileterminal 17, the photographer presses a button for photography providedto the subject identification information input unit 22 of thephotographing terminal 14, or touches a button that a photographyprogram running on the mobile terminal 17 displays, at the timing atwhich photography data which the photographer wants to acquire isdisplayed. This causes the subject identification information input unit22 to output a photography instruction. The photography instruction mayinclude information such as the subject ID and the photography time ofthe photography data that was displayed at the timing of theinstruction, for example. The photographing terminal 14 outputs to thephotography control server 20 the photography instruction that wasoutput from the subject identification information input unit 22.

The photography control server 20 outputs the received photographyinstruction to the secondary photography control unit 26. Upon receivingthe photography instruction, the secondary photography control unit 26extracts the instructed photography data from one or more sets ofphotography data temporarily saved in the temporary photography datastorage unit 24, and saves the extracted photography data in thephotography data storage unit 27 in a manner associated with the subjectID. Thus, the photographer can give a photography instruction andacquire photography data displayed on the display at the timing of theinstruction.

Note that the photography data displayed on the photographing terminal14 or mobile terminal 17 of the photographer is only photography data ofthe time period over which the person of the subject ID was at thephotography spot, out of the multiple sets of photography datatemporarily saved in the temporary photography data storage unit 24. Thesecondary photography control unit 26 extracts photography datacorresponding to an image displayed on the display of the photographingterminal 14 or the mobile terminal 17 at the point of the photographergiving the photography instruction, out of the multiple sets ofphotography data temporarily saved in the temporary photography datastorage unit 24, and saves this as photography data of the subject inthe photography data storage unit 27, in a manner associated with thesubject ID.

The photography data storage unit 27 is memory (second memory) thatsaves photography data extracted by the secondary photography controlunit 26. The photography data storage unit 27 is realized bynon-volatile memory such as a hard disk for example, and has functionsof saving photography data. Although a configuration is illustrated inFIG. 7 where the photography control server 20 includes the photographydata storage unit 27, this is not restrictive. For example, thephotography data storage unit 27 may be included in a cloud server(omitted from illustration) that is physically separate from thephotography control server 20. In this case, the photography controlserver 20 and the cloud server are connected by a network including theInternet, with the photography data extracted by the secondaryphotography control unit 26 and information such as a subject IDassociated with the photography data being output to the cloud server.

It is sufficient for the cloud server to save photography data receivedfrom the photography control server 20 in the photography data storageunit 27. Alternatively, an arrangement may be made where, only uponreceiving the subject ID from the mobile terminal of the photographerand the received subject ID matching the subject ID associated with thephotography data, will the cloud server extract the photography datafrom the photography data storage unit 27 and output to the mobileterminal of the photographer. Thus, only the photographer that knows thesubject ID can acquire photography data via the Internet.

The above-described subject information detecting unit 21, primaryphotography control unit 25, subject identification information inputunit 22, and secondary photography control unit 26, function byprocessors executing programs stored in memory, thereby controlling theabove-described functional units.

1-3. Operations

Next, operations of the photography control system 1 illustrated in FIG.7 will be described. The operations of the photography control system 1are executed by a combination of primary photography processing andsecondary photography processing.

1-3-1. Primary Photography Processing

First, operations of primary photography processing of the photographycontrol system 1 will be described. FIG. 8 is a time chart illustratingan example of the flow of time in the primary photography processing ofthe photography control system 1. This time chart illustrates the timeup to a subject ID that is the same as the subject ID acquired by thesubject information detecting unit 21 that the accepting terminal 15 atthe pavilion entrance 11 has, being acquired by the subject informationdetecting unit 21 of the accepting terminal 15, and the time from theprimary photography control unit 25 instructing the photographing camera13 to start photography up to instructing stopping of photography.

In the following description the person of the subject ID may also bereferred to as the subject of the subject ID. Also, a person may bereferred to as a subject. For example, the subject of the subject ID1holds the subject identification barcode card 16 up to the acceptingterminal 15 at the pavilion entrance 11 at time t1, and enters thepavilion 10 that is a photography spot. Thereafter, the subject of thesubject ID1 holds the same subject identification barcode card 16 up tothe subject information detecting unit 21 that the accepting terminal 15at the pavilion exit 12 has at time t4, and exits the pavilion 10. Thetime bar ID1 from time t1 to time t4 represents the time period that thesubject of the subject ID1 was in the pavilion 10. The time bar R1 fromtime t1 to time t6 indicates photography data R1 taken from instructionto start photography by the primary photography control unit 25 at timet1 till instruction to stop photography by the primary photographycontrol unit 25 at time t6.

In the same way, the time bar ID2 indicates that the time period overwhich the subject of the subject ID2 was in the pavilion 10 was fromtime t2 to time t6, and the time bar ID3 indicates that the time periodover which the subject of the subject ID3 was in the pavilion 10 wasfrom time t3 to time t5. The time bar ID4 further indicates that thetime period over which the subject of the subject ID4 was in thepavilion 10 was from time t7 to time t8, and the time bar R2 indicatesthe photography data R2 taken from time t7 to time t8.

FIG. 9 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of photographydata taken in the primary photography processing of the photographycontrol system 1 illustrated in FIG. 7. The photography data illustratedin FIG. 9 indicates photography data 31 corresponding to the photographydata R1 and photography data 32 corresponding to the photography data R2taken by the photographing camera 13, in response to the photographyinstruction from the primary photography control unit 25. Since allphotography is performed as still images and 60 frames are taken persecond in the present embodiment, image data (photography data)corresponding to one still image, and photography time associated withthis still image, are saved in the temporary photography data storageunit 24 every 1/60 second. Multiple sets of photography data aretemporarily saved in the temporary photography data storage unit 24 inthis example.

The photography data 31 in FIG. 9 represents the photography data R1.The frame0, frame1, frame2, and so on through frameXXX, are eachphotography data corresponding to a still image taken by thephotographing camera 13, and these are collectively called photographydata R1.

Photography data is image data of still images, as described earlier.The time at which the primary photography control unit 25 gives thephotography start instruction at time t1 as described above and thephotographing camera 13 receives this photography start instruction andfirst performs photography, is the photography time of frame0. Note thatthe time at which the primary photography control unit 25 gives thephotography start instruction and the photography time of frame0 can beviewed as being the same time, so the photography time of frame0 will bedescribed as being time t1 hereinafter, for the sake of brevity ofdescription.

Here, frame0 represents image data taken at time t1, frame1 representsimage data taken at time t1+ 1/60 seconds, and frameXXX represents imagedata taken at time t6, Thus, the photography time of photography datataken immediately before the primary photography control unit 25 gives aphotography stop instruction at time t6 as described above and thephotographing camera 13 receives this photography stop instruction andstops photography, is the photography time of frameXXX. Accordingly,although there is difference between the photography time of frameXXXand time t6, these can be viewed as being the same time, so thephotography time of frameXXX is described as being time t6. Thephotography data 32 represents the photography data R2.

FIG. 10A is a diagram illustrating an example of a table managingcorrelation between subject IDs of subjects that are photography targetsof the photographing camera 13 and photography data, in the primaryphotography processing of the photography control system 1 illustratedin FIG. 7. FIG. 10A illustrates the content of the table saved in thetemporary photography data storage unit 24 at the point of time t4 inFIG. 8.

The table in FIG. 10A indicates which of the photography data includedin the photography data R1 has which subject as a photography target.The data corresponding to this table is temporarily saved in thetemporary photography data storage unit 24 along with the photographydata. For example, the subject of the subject ID1 is included in thephotography data taken from in the period from time t1 to time t4 in thephotography data included in the photography data R1, as illustrated inFIG. 10A, for example. In other words, this indicates that the subjectof subject ID1 is a photography target of the photographing camera 13 inthe period from time t1 to time t4, i.e., that the subject of subjectID1 is in the pavilion 10 that is the photography spot.

This also indicates that the time period where the subject of thesubject ID2 is a photography target starts from time t2, but the endtime for subject ID2 is not entered yet. This means that the subject ofsubject ID2 is still at the photography spot at time t4. Similarly, thisindicates that the subject of subject ID3 is at the photography spotfrom time t3.

For example, only the subject of subject ID1 is a photography target ofthe photographing camera 13 over the time from time t1 to time t2.During time from time t2 to time t3, the subject of subject ID2 also isa photography target of the photographing camera 13, in addition to thesubject of subject ID1. The subject of subject ID3 further is aphotography target of the photographing camera 13, in addition to thesubject of subject ID1 and the subject of subject ID2. Thus, thisindicates that the subjects of subject ID1 through subject ID3 each arephotography targets in the photography data taken from time t3 to timet4, for example.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a table managingcorrelation between subject IDs and photography data, in the primaryphotography processing in the photography control system 1 illustratedin FIG. 7. FIG. 11 illustrates the content of the table saved in thetemporary photography data storage unit 24 at time t8 in FIG. 8, aftertime has elapsed from time t4 in FIG. 10A.

The table illustrated in FIG. 11 indicates that a time t6, the state inthe pavilion 10 is that there is not a single person to serve as asubject, and photography by the photographing camera 13 has stopped.That is to say, the table illustrated in FIG. 11 indicates thatphotography by the photographing camera 13 has stopped at time t6. Thisalso indicates that photography data of the subject of subject ID4regarding which photography was newly started at time t7 is photographydata R2 that is separate from the photography data R1, and photographyhas been stopped at time t8.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an example of procedures of theprimary photography processing in the photography control system 1illustrated in FIG. 7. When the photography control system 1 starts theprimary photography processing, first, the primary photography controlunit 25 sets the value of an internal subject counter to 0 (S1001). Whenthe value of the subject counter is 0, this means that there is not asingle person in the pavilion 10 serving as a subject, i.e., that thereis not one person who has held up the subject identification barcodecard 16 and entered the pavilion 10. Normally, this processing needs tobe prepared before opening the pavilion 10.

Next, the primary photography control unit 25 determines whether or notthere is a subject entering the pavilion 10 (step S1002). For example,upon detecting a subject ID of a new subject, the subject informationdetecting unit 21 of the accepting terminal 15 at the pavilion entrance11 outputs this subject ID as subject information. This subjectinformation is output to the primary photography control unit 25, asdescribed earlier. Thus, the primary photography control unit 25determines whether or not there is a subject entering the pavilion 10 bychecking whether or not subject information has been received from theaccepting terminal 15 at the pavilion entrance 11 in step S1002. In acase where no subject information has been received from the acceptingterminal 15 at the pavilion entrance 11, the primary photography controlunit 25 determines that there is a subject entering the pavilion 10 (Yesin step S1002), and saves information associating the subject IDindicated by the subject information and the time at which the subjectinformation was received (start time) in the temporary photography datastorage unit 24 as a table. Subsequently, the flow advances to stepS1003.

In step S1003, the primary photography control unit 25 increments thevalue of the subject counter by a value corresponding to the number ofsubject information sets received. In a case where there is only oneaccepting terminal 15 at the pavilion entrance 11, the value by whichthe value of the subject counter is incremented will always be 1.However, in a case where multiple accepting terminals 15 are installedat the pavilion entrance 11, the primary photography control unit 25 mayreceive subject information from these accepting terminals 15 at thesame time. In this case, the subject counter may be incremented by anumber corresponding to the number of subject information sets received.

On the other hand, in a case where the primary photography control unit25 determines in step S1002 that no subject is entering the pavilion 10(No in step S1002), i.e., no subject information has been received, theflow advances to S1004.

Next, in step S1004, the primary photography control unit 25 determineswhether or not there is a subject leaving the pavilion 10. For example,upon detecting a subject ID of a subject, the subject informationdetecting unit 21 of the accepting terminal 15 at the pavilion exit 12outputs this subject ID as subject information. This subject informationis output to the primary photography control unit 25, as describedearlier. Thus, the primary photography control unit 25 determineswhether or not there is a subject exiting the pavilion 10 by checkingwhether or not subject information has been received from the acceptingterminal 15 at the pavilion exit 12 in step S1004. In a case wheresubject information has been received, determination is made that thereis a subject exiting from the pavilion 10 (Yes in step S1004), theprimary photography control unit 25 references the table in thetemporary photography data storage unit 24, and identifies the samesubject ID as a subject ID received from the accepting terminal 15 ofthe pavilion exit 12. The time at which the subject information wasreceived is then saved in the table as the end time of the identifiedsubject ID. Subsequently, the flow advances to step S1005.

In step S1005, the primary photography control unit 25 decrements thevalue of the subject counter by a value corresponding to the number ofsubject information sets received. In a case where there is only oneaccepting terminal 15 at the pavilion exit 12, the value by which thevalue of the subject counter is decremented will always be 1. However,in a case where multiple accepting terminals 15 are installed at thepavilion exit 12, the primary photography control unit 25 may receivesubject information from these accepting terminals 15 at the same time.In this case, the subject counter may be decremented by a numbercorresponding to the number of subject information sets received.

The number of people who have entered the pavilion 10 at the point ofperforming the processing so far is the value of the subject counter.That is to say, at the above-described point in time, the number ofsubjects serving as photography targets at the photography spot of thephotographing camera 13, i.e., the number of subject IDs, is finalized.

Next, the primary photography control unit 25 checks whether or not thevalue of the subject counter is greater than 0. That is to say, theprimary photography control unit 25 checks whether or not there is asubject serving as a photography target at the photography spot (stepS1006). In a case where the value of the subject counter is greater than0, determination is made that there is a subject at the photographyspot, and the flow advances to step S1007. On the other hand, in a casewhere the value of the subject counter is 0, determination is made thatthere is not a single subject at the photography spot, and the flowadvances to step S1009.

In step S1007, the primary photography control unit 25 determineswhether or not photography by the photographing camera 13 is stopped. Ina case where photography by the photographing camera 13 is stopped, theprimary photography control unit 25 instructs the photographing camera13 to start photography (step S1008). The instruction to startphotography is output from the photography control server 20 to thephotographing camera 13. The primary photography control unit 25 savesthe photography data that the photographing camera 13 has taken asphotography data R1 in the temporary photography data storage unit 24.The primary photography control unit 25 also saves information relatingto the photography data R1 in the table associating the subject ID thatthe subject information indicates and the start time from step S1002.This table is saved in the temporary photography data storage unit 24.

The photography data that the photographing camera 13 has taken isoutput to the photography control server 20. The primary photographycontrol unit 25 saves the photography data that the photography controlserver 20 has received in the temporary photography data storage unit24. More specifically, the primary photography control unit 25 saves themultiple sets of photography data received by the photography controlserver 20 as photography data R1. The photographing camera 13 continuesto output photography data to the photography control server 20 eachtime photography data is obtained, and the primary photography controlunit 25 repeats processing of saving the photography data that thephotography control server 20 has received in the temporary photographydata storage unit 24 as photography data R1, until an instruction tostop photography is received from the photography control server 20.After step S1008, the flow returns to step S1002.

On the other hand, a case where photography by the photographing camera13 is not stopped is a case where the photographing camera 13 isperforming operations of photography at certain time intervals (e.g.,every 1/60 seconds), i.e., currently is performing photography. In acase where the photography by the photographing camera 13 is not stopped(case of No in step S1007), the flow returns to step S1002.

In step S1009, the primary photography control unit 25 determineswhether the photographing camera 13 is currently photographing, and in acase where the photographing camera 13 is photographing, gives aninstruction for the photographing camera 13 to stop photographing (stepS1010), and the flow returns to step S1002. Instruction to stopphotography is output from the photography control server 20 to thephotographing camera 13. Upon receiving the instruction to stopphotographing, the photographing camera 13 stops photographing. On theother hand, in a case where the photographing camera 13 is notphotographing (No in step S1009), the flow returns to step S1002.

Next, a specific example will be described regarding primary photographyprocessing in the photography control system 1. The followingdescription deals with how what sort of processing is performed by theflowchart in FIG. 12 following the time chart in FIG. 8.

In a state where there is no subject in the pavilion 10, i.e., in astate where the value of the subject counter at the primary photographycontrol unit 25 is 0, photography by the photographing camera 13 isstopped. This corresponds to time t0 to time t1 and time t6 to time t7in the time chart in FIG. 8, and corresponds to the state immediatelyfollowing step S1001 in the flowchart in FIG. 12.

When the first subject holds up the subject identification barcode card16 of subject ID1 to the accepting terminal 15 at the pavilion entrance11 at time t1, the subject information detecting unit 21 reads thebarcode and detects the subject ID1, and outputs the detected subjectID1 as subject information. The subject information is output to theprimary photography control unit 25, as described earlier.

The primary photography control unit 25 has received the subjectinformation in step S1002, and accordingly determines that the subjectof the subject ID1 will inter the pavilion 10, and the flow advances tostep S1003. The primary photography control unit 25 saves informationassociating the subject ID1 that the subject information indicates andthe time at which the subject information was received (start time) inthe temporary photography data storage unit 24 as a table.

In step S1003, the value of the subject counter is incremented by 1. Atthis point, the value of the subject counter is 1. In step S1004, nonotification of subject information has been received from the acceptingterminal 15 installed at the pavilion exit 12, so determination is madethat there is not subject newly exiting from the pavilion 10, and theflow advances to step S1006. Determination is made in step S1006 thatthe value of the subject counter is greater than 0, and the flowadvances to step S1007. The photographing camera 13 is in a state ofhaving stopped photography at this time, so the flow advances to stepS1008, where the photographing camera 13 is instructed to startphotography, and the flow returns to step S1002.

Upon receiving the instruction to start photography, the photographingcamera 13 repeatedly performs an operation of photographing once every1/60 seconds. The primary photography control unit 25 saves the stillimages that have been taken in the temporary photography data storageunit 24 in the order of time of photography, as photography data R1. Thefirst photography is data immediately after the subject has entered thepavilion 10, and thus is saved as photography data at time t1, which isframe0 in FIG. 9. Photography of the second photograph is performed attime t1+ 1/60 seconds, which is frame1 in FIG. 9. Thereafter, thephotographing camera 13 repeats photography until the primaryphotography control unit 25 gives a photography instruction to stopphotography.

The primary photography control unit 25 also adds “R1” to the tabletemporarily saved in the temporary photography data storage unit 24 toindicate that the photography data associated with the subject ofsubject ID1 is the photography data R1. The table immediately afterstarting photography has saved therein information of the combination ofID1 corresponding to the subject ID1, the start time t1, and thephotography data R1. At this point, the end time is not set. The contentof the table at this time is as illustrated in FIG. 10B.

Next, at time t2, the subject of subject ID2 holds up the subjectidentification barcode card 16 to the accepting terminal 15 at thepavilion entrance 11. The subject information detecting unit 21 of theaccepting terminal 15 reads the barcode and acquires the subject ID2,and outputs the subject ID2 as subject information. The subjectinformation is output to the primary photography control unit 25 asdescribed earlier. The primary photography control unit 25 is at thistime performing the loop processing illustrated in FIG. 12.

In step S1002, the primary photography control unit 25 determines thatthe subject of the subject ID2 indicated by the subject information hasentered the pavilion 10, and advances to step S1003. At this time, theprimary photography control unit 25 saves information associating thesubject ID2 that the subject information indicates and the time t2 atwhich the subject information was received (start time) with thephotography data R1 in the temporary photography data storage unit 24 asa table. The content of the table saved in the temporary photographydata storage unit 24 at this time as that illustrated in FIG. 10C.

In step S1003, the value of the subject counter is incremented by 1. Atthis point, the value of the subject counter is 2. In step S1004, nonotification of subject information has been received from the acceptingterminal 15 installed at the pavilion exit 12, so determination is madethat there is not subject newly exiting from the pavilion 10, and theflow advances to step S1006. Determination is made in step S1006 thatthe value of the subject counter is greater than 0, and the flowadvances to step S1007. The photographing camera 13 is in a state ofhaving started photography, so the flow returns to step S1002.

Next, at time t3, the subject of subject ID3 holds up the subjectidentification barcode card 16 to the accepting terminal 15 at thepavilion entrance 11. The subject information detecting unit 21 of theaccepting terminal 15 reads the barcode and acquires the subject ID3,and outputs the subject ID3 as subject information. The subjectinformation is output to the primary photography control unit 25 asdescribed earlier. The primary photography control unit 25 is at thistime performing the loop processing illustrated in FIG. 12.

The primary photography control unit 25 performs the processing of stepS1002 to step S1003 in the same way as described above, making the valueof the subject counter to be 3, and saves information of the combinationof the subject ID3 that the subject information indicates, the starttime t3, and photography data R1, in the temporary photography datastorage unit 24 as a table. The content of the table saved in thetemporary photography data storage unit 24 at this time as thatillustrated in FIG. 10D.

Next, at time t4, the subject of subject ID1 holds up the subjectidentification barcode card 16 to the accepting terminal 15 at thepavilion exit 12. The subject information detecting unit 21 of theaccepting terminal 15 reads the barcode and acquires the subject ID1,and outputs the subject ID1 as subject information. The subjectinformation is output to the primary photography control unit 25 asdescribed earlier. The primary photography control unit 25 is at thistime performing the loop processing illustrated in FIG. 12.

The primary photography control unit 25 has not received subjectinformation from the accepting terminal 15 at the pavilion entrance 11in step S1002, and accordingly judges that no subject has newly enteredthe pavilion 10, and the flow advances to S1004. In step S1004, thesubject information has been received from the accepting terminal 15installed at the pavilion exit 12, so determination is made that thesubject of subject ID1 has left the pavilion 10, and the flow advancesto step S1005. The time at which the subject information was received issaved in the table in the temporary photography data storage unit 24 asthe end time of the subject ID1 in step S1004. The content of the tablesaved in the temporary photography data storage unit 24 at this time asthat illustrated in FIG. 10A.

In step S1005, the value of the subject counter is decremented by 1. Atthis point, the value of the subject counter is 2. Determination is madein step S1006 that the value of the subject counter is greater than 0,and the flow advances to step S1007. The photographing camera 13 is in astate of having started photography, so the flow returns to step S1002.

In the same way, at time t5, the subject of subject ID3 holds up thesubject identification barcode card 16 to the accepting terminal 15 atthe pavilion exit 12. The subject information detecting unit 21 of theaccepting terminal 15 reads the barcode and acquires the subject ID3,and outputs the subject ID3 as subject information. The subjectinformation is output to the photography control server 20 from theaccepting terminal 15 installed at the pavilion exit 12. The photographycontrol server 20 outputs the received subject information to theprimary photography control unit 25. The primary photography controlunit 25 is at this time performing the loop processing illustrated inFIG. 12.

The primary photography control unit 25 performs the processing of stepS1004 to step S1005, in the same way as described above, making thevalue of the subject counter 1, and the end time t5 corresponding tosubject ID3 is saved in the table in the temporary photography datastorage unit 24. The content of the table saved in the temporaryphotography data storage unit 24 at this time as that illustrated inFIG. 10E.

In the same way, at time t6, the subject of subject ID2 holds up thesubject identification barcode card 16 to the accepting terminal 15 atthe pavilion exit 12. The subject information detecting unit 21 of theaccepting terminal 15 reads the barcode and acquires the subject ID2,and outputs the subject ID2 as subject information. The subjectinformation is output to the photography control server 20 form theaccepting terminal 15 installed at the pavilion exit 12. The photographycontrol server 20 outputs the received subject information to theprimary photography control unit 25. The primary photography controlunit 25 is at this time performing the loop processing illustrated inFIG. 12.

The primary photography control unit 25 judges that no subject has newlyentered the pavilion 10 in step S1002, and accordingly the flow advancesto S1004. In step S1004, the subject information has been received fromthe accepting terminal 15 installed at the pavilion exit 12, sodetermination is made that the subject of subject ID2 has left thepavilion 10, and the flow advances to step S1005. The time at which thesubject information was received is saved in the table in the temporaryphotography data storage unit 24 as the end time of the subject ID2 instep S1004. The content of the table saved in the temporary photographydata storage unit 24 at this time as that illustrated in FIG. 10F. Thevalue of subject counter is also decremented by 1 at step S1005. Thevalue of the subject counter at this point is 0.

The value of the subject counter is 0 in the determination in stepS1006, so the flow advances to step S1009. Photography is beingperformed by the photographing camera 13, so determination is made instep S1009 that photography is being performed, and the flow advances tostep S1010. The primary photography control unit 25 instructs thephotographing camera 13 to stop photography in step S1010. FIG. 9illustrates that the final frame of photography data R1 is frameXXX, andthe photography time is t6.

Thus, one or more sets of photography data from time t1 to time t6 areeach temporarily saved in the temporary photography data storage unit 24as photography data R1 in the primary photography processing of thephotography control system 1. Instructions to start photography andinstructions to end photography by the photographing camera 13 are givenin accordance with input of subject IDs of subjects at the acceptingterminal 15 at the pavilion entrance 11 and the accepting terminal 15 atthe pavilion exit 12, whereby control of starting photography and endingphotography at the photographing camera 13 is performed. Further, thephotography data R1 is saved in the temporary photography data storageunit 24, and during which time period of the photography data R1 each ofthe subjects has been a photography target is saved in the table in thetemporary photography data storage unit 24.

In the same way, upon the subject of subject ID4 being photographed formtime t7 to time t8 and photography data R2 being saved, the start timet, the end time t8, and the photography data R2 correspond to thesubject ID4 as illustrated in the table in FIG. 11, and the images ofthe photography data R2 in FIG. 9 are from frame0 to frameYYY. This sofar has been a description of the primary photography processing thatthe photography control system 1 performs.

1-3-2. Secondary Photography Processing

Next, operations of the secondary photography processing of thephotography control system 1 will be described. FIG. 13 is a time chartillustrating an example of the flow of time in secondary photographyprocessing of the photography control system 1 illustrated in FIG. 7.This time chart illustrates the photography time period of the subjectof subject ID3 in the primary photography processing illustrated in FIG.8, and a photography instruction S1 in the secondary photographyprocessing.

In the primary photography processing, the photography data R1 of thephotographing camera 13 is taken during the time period from time t1 totime t6 (time bar R1), and out of this, time t3 through time t5 is thetime period that the subject of the subject ID3 was at the photographyspot of the pavilion 10 (time bar ID3). The photography data R1 istemporarily saved in the temporary photography data storage unit 24. Itcan be seen from the table saved in the temporary photography datastorage unit 24 that the subject of the subject ID3 was the photographytarget of the photographing camera 13 for the photography time periodfrom time t3 to time t5.

The photographer operates the subject identification information inputunit 22 of the photographing terminal 14 to give the photographyinstruction S1. The photography instruction S1 includes time T1 at whichthe photography instruction was given, and the subject ID. Thephotographing terminal 14 outputs the photography instruction S1 to thephotography control server 20. The photography control server 20 outputsthe received photography instruction S1 to the secondary photographycontrol unit 26. The time at which the photography instruction was givenis also referred to as a third time.

Upon receiving the photography instruction S1, the secondary photographycontrol unit 26 performs secondary photography processing. Morespecifically, the secondary photography control unit 26 determineswhether or not the subject of the subject ID included in the receivedphotography instruction S1 was in the pavilion 10 at the time T1 (timeof giving the photography instruction) included in the photographyinstruction S1. This determination can be made based on the table in thetemporary photography data storage unit 24.

In a case where the subject of the subject ID included in the receivedphotography instruction S1 has been determined to be in the pavilion 10at the time T1 (time of giving the photography instruction) included inthe photography instruction S1, the secondary photography control unit26 extracts a frameTT1 corresponding to the time T1 of giving thephotography instruction S1 from the photography data R1 in the temporaryphotography data storage unit 24. The secondary photography control unit26 saves the frameTT1 corresponding to the extracted photography data inthe photography data storage unit 27. The secondary photography controlunit 26 also saves information associating the subject ID (e.g., ID3),photography time (e.g., T1), and photography instruction (e.g., S1),with the extracted photography data (e.g., frameTT1), in a table in thephotography data storage unit 27.

In a case where the person of subject ID3 is a child, for example, thephotographer who is the parent of this child may operate the subjectidentification information input unit 22 of the photographing terminal14 to input the subject ID3 before giving the photography instructionS1. In this case, the photographing terminal 14 outputs the subject ID3as subject identification information to the photography control server20 before giving the photography instruction S1. The photography controlserver 20 outputs the received subject identification information to thesecondary photography control unit 26. Upon receiving the subjectidentification information, the secondary photography control unit 26may identify the time period during which the subject ID indicated inthe subject identification information is a photography target, andextract photography data of this time period from the photography dataR1.

Even in a case where the time of the secondary photography control unit26 receiving the subject identification information from thephotographing terminal 14 is later than time t5, one or more sets ofphotography data may be extracted from the photography time of time t3through 5. Although it is sufficient for one or more set of photographydata to be extracted, an example of a case where multiple sets ofphotography data are extracted will be described here.

The extracted multiple sets of photography data are output from thephotography control server 20 to the photographing terminal 14. Thephotographing terminal 14 displays the multiple sets that have beenreceived on a display in order of photography time. Accordingly, thephotographer can view the photography data including the subject of thesubject ID as images, on the display of the photographing terminal 14.For example, a case will be assumed where an image corresponding tophotography time T1 is displayed on the display, and the photographeroperates the photographing terminal 14 to instruct acquisition of thisphotography data. In this case, the photographing terminal 14 outputs aninstruction to acquire the photography data (photography instruction S1)to the photography control server 20. The photography instruction S1includes the photography time T1 of the photography displayed on thedisplay at the time of giving the photography instruction, and thesubject ID.

The photography control server 20 outputs the received photographyinstruction S1 to the secondary photography control unit 26. Thus, thesecondary photography control unit 26 receives the photographyinstruction S1 from the photographing terminal 14. The secondaryphotography control unit 26 extracts the frameTT1 corresponding to thephotography time T1 from the photography data R1 in the temporaryphotography data storage unit 24. The secondary photography control unit26 saves the frameTT1 corresponding to the extracted photography data inthe photography data storage unit 27.

FIG. 14 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of therelationship between photography data R1 taken in the primaryphotography processing of the photography control system 1 illustratedin FIG. 7 and photography data taken (acquired) by the photographyinstruction S1 in secondary photography processing. FIG. 14 illustratesthat the photography data R1 is multiple sets of photography data fromframe0 through frameXXX, and that the photography data (photographyframe) corresponding to the photography instruction S1 is frameTT1. Datacorresponding to this table is saved in the photography data storageunit 27 along with the photography data.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an example of a table saved in thephotography data storage unit 27. More specifically, the table in FIG.15 manages information associating the subject ID3 received from thephotographing terminal 14, the photography instruction S1, and thephotography time T1 of the extracted photography data, with theframeTT1, in the secondary photography processing, as a table. FIG. 15illustrates that with regard to subject ID3, the photography time of thephotography data corresponding to the photography instruction S1 in FIG.14 is T1, and the photography data corresponding to the photographyinstruction S1 is frameTT1.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating an example of procedures ofsecondary photography processing in the photography control system 1illustrated in FIG. 7. An example of a case where secondary photographyprocessing is performed while performing primary photography processingwill be described here.

Upon starting the secondary photography processing, the photographycontrol system 1 stands by for a photography instruction from thephotographing terminal 14. The photographer gives an instruction bypressing a photography button (omitted from illustration) embedded inthe subject identification information input unit 22 of thephotographing terminal 14, for example. When the photography button ispressed, the subject identification information input unit 22 outputs aphotography instruction. The photography instruction includes thesubject ID and time information indicating the time at which thephotography instruction was given (e.g., the time at which the buttonwas pressed, or the photography time of the photography data displayedon the display when the button was pressed). The time, at which thephotography instruction was given, is also referred to as a third time.The time information, indicating the time at which the photographyinstruction was given, is also referred to as third time information.This photography instruction is output from the photographing terminal14 to the secondary photography control unit 26. The secondaryphotography control unit 26 thus receives the photography instruction(step S1101).

Next, the secondary photography control unit 26 checks whether or notthe subject ID included in the received photography instruction is avalid subject ID regarding the time at which the photography instructionwas given, i.e., whether or not the subject of that subject ID was inthe pavilion 10 at the time when the photography instruction was given(step S1102). This checking can be performed by referencing the tablesaved in the temporary photography data storage unit 24, for example.

In a case where the specified subject ID is valid, i.e., the subject ofthat specified subject ID is in the pavilion 10 (Yes in step S1102), thesecondary photography control unit 26 extracts photography data, i.e., aphotography image, at a photography time matching the time indicated bythe time information included in the received photography instruction,out of the photography data taken in the primary photography processing,stores this in the photography data storage unit 27 (step S1103), andthe secondary photography processing ends. In a case where the specifiedsubject ID is invalid, i.e., the subject of the specified subject ID isnot in the pavilion 10 at the time of photography instruction (No instep S1102), the photography instruction is invalidated, and thesecondary photography processing ends without storing the photographydata.

Alternatively, the following processing may be performed before giving aphotography instruction from the photographing terminal 14. For example,the photographer uses the subject identification information input unit22 of the photographing terminal 14 to input a subject ID. The subjectidentification information input unit 22 outputs the input subject ID assubject identification information. The subject identificationinformation is output from the photographing terminal 14 to thephotography control server 20. The photography control server 20 outputsthe subject identification information to the secondary photographycontrol unit 26. Upon receiving the subject identification information,the secondary photography control unit 26 checks whether the subject ofthe subject ID that the subject identification information indicates isin the pavilion 10, which is the photography spot, by referencing thetable in the temporary photography data storage unit 24.

In a case where determination is made that the subject of the subject IDis in the pavilion 10, photography data of which the photography time isthe received time, and photography data following this photography data,are extracted from the temporary photography data storage unit 24. Thephotography data extracted from the temporary photography data storageunit 24 is successively output from the photography control server 20 tothe photographing terminal 14. The photographing terminal 14successively displays the received photography data on a display. Thus,the photographer operating the photographing terminal 14 can giveinstructions while viewing the photography data displayed on the displayof the photographing terminal 14.

Alternatively, in a case where determination is made that the subject ofthe subject ID is in the pavilion 10, photography data having aphotography time at or after the start time corresponding to thereceived subject ID in the above-described table may be successivelyextracted from the temporary photography data storage unit 24. In thiscase, the photographing terminal 14 can view the photography data fromthe time that the subject of the subject ID has entered the pavilion 10.In this case, the photography instruction S1 may include, as the time ofgiving the photography instruction, the photography time of thephotography data displayed on the display at the time of pressing thebutton. The secondary photography control unit 26 may extractphotography data of the photography time included in the photographyinstruction S1 from the temporary photography data storage unit 24, andstore it in the photography data storage unit 27 (step S1103).

Next, a specific example of secondary photography processing in thephotography control system 1 will be described. The photographyinstruction in the secondary photography processing is given from aphotographing terminal 14 installed outside of the pavilion 10. Aphotographer using the photographing terminal 14 uses the subjectidentification information input unit 22 of the photographing terminal14 to input the subject ID of a subject that the photographer wants tophotograph.

Thus, the photographer can use the photographing terminal 14 to view thephotography data taken in the primary photography processing asdescribed above. The photographer also uses the subject identificationinformation input unit 22 to give photography instructions from thephotographing terminal 14 while the photography data is being displayedon the photographing terminal 14. An example of a method that can beused to output a photography instruction is to give an instruction bypressing a photography button embedded in the subject identificationinformation input unit 22 of the photographing terminal 14.

Upon pressing input of the photography button being performed, thesubject identification information input unit 22 of the photographingterminal 14 outputs a photography instruction including the subject IDand the time at which the photography instruction was given. Thephotography instruction is output from the photographing terminal 14 tothe photography control server 20. The photography control server 20outputs the received photography instruction to the secondaryphotography control unit 26.

For example, in a case where photography data taken in the primaryphotography processing has been taken from time t1, and a secondaryphotography instruction is given 10 seconds later from this, aphotography time of t1+10 seconds is specified. Accordingly, even in acase where the display of photography data taken in the primaryphotography processing, being displayed on the photographing terminal14, is somewhat lagging behind the current time, the photographyinstruction by the photographer is performed regarding the desiredtiming as to the photography data being displayed, so instruction can beperformed without any problem even if off from the actual photographytime.

Upon receiving the photography instruction from the photographingterminal 14, the secondary photography control unit 26 checks whether ornot the subject ID included in the received photography instruction is avalid subject ID regarding the time at which the photography instructionwas given, i.e., whether or not the subject of that subject ID was inthe pavilion 10 at the time when the photography instruction was given.That is to say, the subject is determined to be in the pavilion 10,unless an end time of the received subject ID is input in the tablesaved in the temporary photography data storage unit 24 at the timeincluded in the received photography instruction. In this case, thesecondary photography control unit 26 extracts photography data, i.e., aphotography image, at a photography time matching the time instructed bythe subject identification information input unit 22, out of thephotography data taken in the primary photography processing, storesthis in the photography data storage unit 27, and the secondaryphotography processing ends.

On the other hand, in a case where an end time of the subject IDincluded in the received photography instruction has been input in thetable saved in the temporary photography data storage unit 24 at thetime included in the received photography instruction, and the time ofthe photography instruction is later than this end time, determinationis made that the subject of the subject ID is not in the pavilion 10. Inthis case, the photography data regarding which the photographyinstruction has been given does not include the subject of the subjectID, so the photography instruction becomes invalid, and the secondaryphotography processing ends without saving the photography data in thephotography data storage unit 27.

Now, a case where a photography instruction S1 at photography time T1has been acquired at the subject identification information input unit22 with regard to the time period of the photography data R1 in theprimary photography processing, as illustrated in FIG. 13, will bedescribed. In this example, the time T1 is from time t3 through time t5illustrated in FIG. 8, for example. Description will be made regardingan example where the content of the table saved in the temporaryphotography data storage unit 24 during this period is that illustratedin FIG. 10D.

The secondary photography control unit 26 receives the photographyinstruction S1 from the photographer (step S1101 in FIG. 16). Thesecondary photography control unit 26 then determines whether or not thesubject of the subject ID3 is a photography target at the photographytime T1 included in the photography instruction S1, by referencing thetable saved in the temporary photography data storage unit 24 in theprimary photography processing illustrated in FIG. 10D (step S1102).

The photography time T1 is from time t3 to time t5, so at this pointphotography of the photography data R1 is continuing in the primaryphotography processing, and the end time of the subject ID 3 is not setin the temporary photography data storage unit 24. This means that inthe photography data at time T1 in the photography data R1 regardingwhich a photography instruction has been given, the subject of thesubject ID3 can be determined to be valid as a photography target (Yesin S1102). Accordingly, the flow advances to step S1103.

The secondary photography control unit 26 then extracts frameTT1 fromthe photography data R1 illustrated in FIG. 14 as a frame correspondingto the photography time T1, and saves it in the photography data storageunit 27 as photography data of the subject ID3. The secondaryphotography control unit 26 also saves information associating thesubject ID3, photography time T1, photography instruction S1, andphotography data frameTT1, as a table in the photography data storageunit 27 (step S1103), as photography information such as illustrated inthe table in FIG. 15.

Thus, according to the photography control system 1 of the presentembodiment, the photographer can acquire photography data of a subjectin the pavilion 10 from a remote location, by using the subject ID thatthe subject has. In a case where the secondary photography control unit26 receives the subject ID3 before receiving the photography instructionS1, the table in the temporary photography data storage unit 24 may bereferenced to check whether or not the subject of the received subjectID3 is in the pavilion 10 which is the photography spot in the abovedescription. In this case, the secondary photography control unit 26references the content of the table illustrated in FIG. 10D, anddetermines that the subject of the subject ID3 is still in the pavilion10 since the start time of the subject ID3 is t3 and there is noinformation of the end time for this subject ID. The secondaryphotography control unit 26 in this case may successively extractphotography data having a photography time of time t3 or having aphotography time of the time at which the subject ID3 was received orthereafter, from the temporary photography data storage unit 24 (orphotography data R1). The extracted photography data is output from thephotography control server 20 to the photographing terminal 14. Thephotographing terminal 14 successively displays the received photographydata on the display. Accordingly, the photographer can view thephotography data displayed on the display of the photographing terminal14.

Although description has been made above that the time T1 is the time atwhich a photography instruction was given, but this is not restrictive.For example, the time T1 may be information indicating the photographytime of the photography data displayed on the display at the time atwhich the photography instruction was given at the photographingterminal 14. This so far has been a description of the secondaryphotography processing that is performed in the photography controlsystem 1.

Although description has been made above regarding a case wheresecondary photography processing of the subject of subject ID3 isperformed while the subject of subject ID3 is in the pavilion 10,photography instruction of the subject of subject ID3 may be performedafter time t5 as well, for example. Assumption will be made that, in acase where the secondary photography control unit 26 receives subjectidentification information (subject ID3) output from the photographingterminal 14 later than time t5, the content of the table saved in thetemporary photography data storage unit 24 is that illustrated in FIG.10E. The secondary photography control unit 26 in this case can identifythe time period in the photography data R1 where the subject of thesubject ID3 is a photography target is photography data from the starttime t3 to the end time t5. Accordingly, the secondary photographycontrol unit 26 can successively transmit photography data in thetemporary photography data storage unit 24 (or photography data R1) ofwhich the photography time is time t3 to time t5. The photographingterminal 14 then displays the received photography data from time t3 totime t5 on the display, in order of photography time. Thus, thephotographer operating the photographing terminal 14 can giveinstructions while viewing the photography data displayed on the displayof the photographing terminal 14. Further, all photography data beingdisplayed is photography data where the subject of the subject ID3 isthe photography target.

Upon pressing input of the photography button being performed, thesubject identification information input unit 22 of the photographingterminal 14 outputs a photography instruction including the subject ID,and time information indicating the photography time T1 of photographydata displayed on the display at the time of giving the photographyinstruction. The photography instruction is output from thephotographing terminal 14 to the photography control server 20. Thephotography control server 20 outputs the received photographyinstruction to the secondary photography control unit 26. In this case,the secondary photography control unit 26 may extract the photographydata of the photography time T1 indicated by the time informationincluded in the received photography instruction from the temporaryphotography data storage unit 24 (or photography data R1), and store theextracted photography data in the photography data storage unit 27. Ifthis processing is implemented, S1102 in FIG. 16 does not necessarilyhave to be performed.

Although an example has described in the present embodiment where thephotographing camera 13, photographing terminal 14, accepting terminal15, and photography control server 20 are all physically separateentities, as illustrated in FIG. 7, this is not restrictive. Forexample, the requisites of the photography control server 20 may beassembled into the photographing camera 13. In this case, the deviceobtained by assembling the requisites of the photography control server20 into the photographing camera 13 may be referred to either as aphotographing camera or a photography control server. Conversely, therequisites of the photography control server 20 may be assembled intothe photographing terminal 14, for example. In this case, the deviceobtained by assembling the requisites of the photography control server20 into the photographing terminal 14 may be referred to either as aphotographing terminal or a photography control server.

1-4. Advantages

According to the present embodiment, photography of the photography spotin the pavilion 10 is performed by the photographing camera 13, by atleast one subject being in the photography spot in the primaryphotography processing, and in the secondary photography processing onlya photographer who can know the subject ID for each subject can performphotography (extracting photography data of which the subject IDmatches, from the photography data taken by the primary photographyprocessing) of the time period when the subject is in the photographyspot. If there are multiple photographing terminals 14, even ifphotography instructions are given at the same time from thesephotographing terminal 14, photography data can be acquired at therespective desired timings.

2. Second Embodiment

Next, a photography control system according to a second embodiment ofthe present disclosure will be described with reference to drawings. Thephotography control system is a system for performing automaticphotography of users by photographing cameras installed at photographyspots, such as theme parks, amusement facilities, sightseeingdestinations, and so forth. Description will be made in the presentembodiment regarding an example of a case where a commemorativephotography spot has been provided in a photography area in front of amonument, as a photography spot in an amusement facility, andcommemorative photography is made in moving images. Note that thepresent embodiment assumes that only those who agree to be photographedtogether in commemorative photography will enter the photography area.Those who agree to be photographed together will be collectivelyreferred to as a set. Description will be made in the present embodimentregarding an example of a case where commemorative photography isperformed in the commemorative photography spot with two people as oneset.

2.1. Overview

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an example of a scene where aphotography control system according to the second embodiment of thepresent disclosure is being used. In FIG. 17, an area including thephotography spot has a monument 41, a photography area entrance 42, aphotography area exit 43, and a commemorative photography spot 44. Aphotographing camera 47 is installed at a position for photography ofthe commemorative photography spot 44, and an accepting terminal 48 isinstalled at each of near the photography area entrance 42 and near thephotography area exit 43. The area including the photography spot isalso referred to as a photography area.

The commemorative photography spot 44 is positioned such that aphotograph of a desirable angle can be taken if a subject stands at thisposition for photography by the photographing camera 47, and is a circledrawn on the ground serving as a mark. The photographing camera 47 isattached to a pole 47 a and faces the commemorative photography spot 44,so as to be able to photograph subjects who are people at thecommemorative photography spot 44 along with the monument 41. Theaccepting terminal 48 according to the present embodiment has aphotography function and recognition function to read barcodes, e.g.,later-described QR codes (a registered trademark), as identificationinformation to identify subjects.

When a person holds a QR code (registered trademark) up to the acceptingterminal 48, the accepting terminal 48 reads the QR code (registeredtrademark), and detects the value that the QR code (registeredtrademark) indicates as a subject ID. Thus, the accepting terminal 48 atthe photography area entrance 42 externally acquires the subject ID. Theaccepting terminal 48 outputs subject identification informationincluding the acquired subject ID and the time at which the subject IDwas detected, to a photography control server 50. The photographycontrol server 50 will be described later. Subject identificationinformation from the accepting terminal 48 at the photography areaentrance 42 indicates that the person of the subject ID that the subjectidentification information indicates has entered the photography area.Subject identification information from the accepting terminal 48 at thephotography area exit 43 indicates that the person of the subject IDthat the subject identification information indicates has left thephotography area.

The accepting terminals 48 installed at each of the photography areaentrance 42 and photography area exit 43 in the present embodimentfurther have functions for detecting moving bodies. Detection of movingbodies is performed using an infrared sensor, for example. The acceptingterminal 48 installed at the photography area entrance 42 has an areafrom the photography area entrance 42 to the commemorative photographyspot 44 as a detection range (referred to as “first detection range”),for example, and detects moving bodies in this area. Upon detecting amoving body in the first detection range, the accepting terminal 48outputs moving body detection information indicating that a moving bodyhas been detected, as subject information. This subject information isoutput from the accepting terminal 48 installed at the photography areaentrance 42 to the photography control server 50.

Upon receiving (or acquiring) the subject information, the photographycontrol server 50 outputs an instruction to start photography by thephotographing camera 47. Upon receiving (or acquiring) the instructionto start photography, for example, the photographing camera 47 startstaking a moving image. The photographing camera 47 takes moving imagesat 30 frames per second, for example. Each of the image frames obtainedby performing photography at 1/30 second intervals is referred to as aset of photography data. As a matter of course, photography data of amoving image acquired by shooting by the photographing camera 47 willinclude multiple sets of photography data.

The accepting terminal 48 installed at the photography area exit 43 hasan area from the commemorative photography spot 44 to the photographyarea exit 43 as a detection range (referred to as “second detectionrange”), for example, and detects moving bodies in this area. Upondetecting a moving body in the second detection range, the acceptingterminal 48 installed at the photography area exit 43 outputs, assubject information, moving body detection information indicating that amoving body has been detected. The output subject information is outputfrom the accepting terminal 48 installed at the photography area exit 43to the photography control server 50.

The accepting terminal 48 at the photography area exit 43 performsdetection of moving bodies at predetermined time intervals, for example,so while the moving body is in the second detection range, moving bodydetection information will be output at the predetermined timeintervals. Once a moving body is detected and thereafter the moving bodyis no longer detected, the accepting terminal 48 at the photography areaexit 43 measures the amount of time over which the state of no movingbody being detected continues from the current point, using a timer(omitted from illustration). When the time over which the state of nomoving body is detected has continued for a certain amount of time, theaccepting terminal 48 at the photography area exit 43 outputsinformation indicating that no moving body has been detected for acertain amount of time, to the photography control server 50 as subjectinformation.

Upon having received (or acquired) subject information from theaccepting terminal 48 installed at the photography area exit 43, thephotography control server 50 instructs the photographing camera 47 toend (or stop) photography. The photographing camera 47 ends photographywhen the instruction to stop photography has been received (oracquired).

The photographing camera 47 outputs the photography data that has beentaken to the photography control server 50. The photography controlserver 50 temporarily saves the photography data of the moving imagethat has been received in first memory. The photography control server50 also saves information associating the start time at which shootingof the photography data for the moving image has been started, and theend time when shooting was ended, with the photography data of themoving image, in first memory (omitted from illustration) as a table.Thus, when a moving body is detected near the commemorative photographyspot 44, the photographing camera 47 starts photography, and when nomoving body is detected for a certain amount of time, the photographingcamera 47 stops photography. Known technology can be used for the movingbody detection method. For example, much literature and many algorithmshave been disclosed for methods of detecting moving bodies usinginfrared sensors, so detailed description will be omitted here.

The photographing camera 47, accepting terminals 48, and photographycontrol server 50 are connected by network, and are capable ofexchanging necessary information with each other through communication.The network includes a network corresponding to the Internet, to enablephotography data taken by the photographing camera 47 to be provided toa mobile terminal that the user owns via the Internet.

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating an instance of performing photographyin the scene in FIG. 17 where the photography control system is beingused. For example, a subject 45 to be photographed can have photographyperformed by the photographing camera 47 at an ideal position, bystanding at the commemorative photography spot 44 in FIG. 18.

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating an example of a subject 45 wearing asubject identification barcode tag illustrated in FIG. 18. In FIG. 19,the subject 45 is wearing a subject identification barcode tag 46. Inthe present embodiment, a QR code indicating identification informationof the person who is the subject 45 (hereinafter referred to as “subjectID”) is printed on the subject identification barcode tag 46, and thesubject 45 carries this so as to be taken by the photographing camera47. For example, the subject 45 carries the subject identificationbarcode tag 46 by a method such as being stuck a garment being worn inthe form of a sticker, or attached by a safety pin like a badge, or thelike, so that the subject identification barcode tag 46 is photographedby the photographing camera 47 at the same time as the subject 45.

In the present embodiment, first, the subject 45 wearing the subjectidentification barcode tag 46 enters the photography area where there isthe monument 41. The accepting terminal 48 is installed at thephotography area entrance 42. The subject identification barcode tag 46is read by the QR code photographing and recognition functions that theaccepting terminal 48 has, by the subject 45 holding the subjectidentification barcode tag 46 up to the accepting terminal 48, therebyacquiring the subject ID. The acquired subject ID is output from theaccepting terminal 48 at the photography area entrance 42 to thephotography control server 50, for example. The subject ID that thephotography control server 50 has received is saved in memory (omittedfrom illustration). Thus, the present photography control system (e.g.,the photography control server 50) can be notified in advance that thesubject 45 has entered the photography area.

When the subject 45 nears the commemorative photography spot 44 from thephotography area entrance 42, the present photography control system(e.g., the accepting terminal 48 installed at the photography areaentrance 42) detects the movement of the person corresponding to thesubject ID, as a moving body. Information that a moving body has beendetected is output from the accepting terminal 48 at the photographyarea entrance 42 to the photography control server 50 as subjectinformation. Upon having received the subject information from theaccepting terminal 48 at the photography area entrance 42, thephotography control server 50 instructs the photographing camera 47 tostart photography. Upon receiving the instruction to start photography,the photographing camera 47 starts shooting a moving image. The subject45 that is moving from the photography area entrance 42 toward thecommemorative photography spot 44 is not facing the photographing camera47 straight on, so the probability that the subject identificationbarcode tag 46 is not in the photography data taken by the photographingcamera 47 is high at this point.

However, when the subject 45 reaches the commemorative photography spot44 and turns toward the photographing camera 47 for commemorativephotography, the subject identification barcode tag 46 is more readilytaken in the photography data that the photographing camera 47 takes,and the subject ID is more readily acquired from the image of thesubject identification barcode tag 46 included in the image of thephotography data.

When the subject 45 who has finished the commemorative photographystarts to move from the commemorative photography spot 44 toward thephotography area exit 43, the subject identification barcode tag 46 isless readily taken in the photography data that the photographing camera47 takes. When the subject 45 leaves the detection region of theaccepting terminal 48 installed at the photography area exit 43, theaccepting terminal 48 stops detecting a moving body. When a certainamount of time elapses from the point that no moving body is detected,the accepting terminal 48 outputs moving body detection information tothe photography control server 50 as subject information. Upon havingreceived the subject information from the accepting terminal 48installed at the photography area exit 43, the photography controlserver 50 instructs the photographing camera 47 to stop shooting. Uponreceiving the instruction to stop photography, the photographing camera47 stops shooting.

When the subject 45 holds up the subject identification barcode tag 46to the accepting terminal 48 at the photography area exit 43, theaccepting terminal 48 at the photography area exit 43 detects (oracquires) the subject ID, and outputs this subject ID to the photographycontrol server 50 as subject information. According to thisconfiguration, the accepting terminal 48 installed at the photographyarea exit 43 notifies the present photography control system(photography control server 50) that the subject 45 is not in thephotography area where the monument 41 is located.

When the subject 45 leaves the photography area, the present photographycontrol system (e.g., photography control server 50) extracts each ofthe multiple image frames included in the moving image photography datasaved in the first memory as still images, and determines whether or notan image of the subject identification barcode tag 46 can be detectedfrom these still images. In a case where an image of the subjectidentification barcode tag 46 can be detected, the photography controlserver 50 detects the value (subject ID) that the subject identificationbarcode tag 46 indicates. Detecting a subject ID from a still imagecorresponding to an image frame will be referred to as “reading asubject ID from an image frame”, and an image frame from which a subjectID has been read will be referred to as an “image frame from which asubject ID has been read”.

In a case where a subject ID has been read from an image frame, thephotography control server 50 matches this subject ID with the subjectID that the subject identification information indicates. In a casewhere these match, this means that the subject ID that the subjectidentification information indicates has been read from the image frame(i.e., has been detected). The photography control server 50 determinesthat the subject of the subject ID indicated by the subjectidentification information is in this still image. The photographycontrol server 50 extracts, from the photography data of the movingimage, the image frame regarding which determination has been made thatthe subject of the subject ID is in the image, and saves as photographydata (photography data taken at the commemorative photography spot 44)in second memory (omitted from illustration). The photography controlserver 50 also sets the oldest photography time of the image framesregarding which determination has been made that the subject of thesubject ID is in the image, as the start time, and the newestphotography time as the end time. The photography control server 50saves information associating the subject ID, start time, and end time,with the extracted data, in the second memory as a table.

Note that the photography control server 50 may output photography dataof a moving image taken of the subject 45 to a dedicated cloud server(omitted from illustration) for the subject 45, on the Internet. Thiscloud server may save photography data in memory (omitted fromillustration). A person serving as the subject 45 may operate a mobileterminal (omitted from illustration) owned by him/herself and access thememory in the cloud server, thereby acquiring photography data of themoving image.

2-2. Configuration

Next, the configuration of the photography control system according tothe present embodiment will be described. FIG. 20 is a block diagramillustrating an example of the photography control system according tothe present embodiment. The photography control system 2 illustrated inFIG. 20 has the photographing camera 47, the accepting terminal 48, andthe photography control server 50. The accepting terminal 48 has asubject information detecting unit 51 and a subject identificationinformation input unit 52. The photography control server 50 has atemporary photography data storage unit 54, a primary photographycontrol unit 55, a secondary photography control unit 56, and aphotography data storage unit 57.

Although the photography control system 2 uses the accepting terminal 48installed at the photography area entrance 42 and the accepting terminal48 installed at the photography area exit 43, FIG. 20 only illustratesone accepting terminal 48, to simplify the drawing. Further, thephotographing camera 47, accepting terminals 48, and photography controlserver 50 are connected via network through certain communication unitsto be able to exchange necessary information with each other bycommunication, but the communication units of each have been omittedfrom illustration to simplify the drawing.

The subject 45 holds up the subject identification barcode tag 46 thatis being worn to the accepting terminal 48 installed at the photographyarea entrance 42. The subject identification information input unit 52of the accepting terminal 48 installed at the photography area entrance42 detects (or acquires) the subject ID from the subject identificationbarcode tag 46 worn by the subject 45, and outputs as subjectidentification information.

The output subject identification information is output from theaccepting terminal 48 installed at the photography area entrance 42 tothe photography control server 50. The photography control server 50outputs the received subject identification information to the secondaryphotography control unit 56. The secondary photography control unit 56stores the subject ID indicated by the received subject identificationinformation in memory (omitted from illustration) or the like. Thus, thesecondary photography control unit 56 can receive (acquire) the subjectidentification information output from the subject identificationinformation input unit 52.

After the accepting terminal 48 installed at the photography areaentrance 42 has acquired the subject ID, the subject 45 moves from thephotography area entrance 42 toward the commemorative photography spot44. When the subject information detecting unit 51 of the acceptingterminal 48 installed at the photography area entrance 42 detects thesubject 45 heading from the photography area entrance 42 toward thecommemorative photography spot 44 as a moving body, the subjectinformation detecting unit 51 outputs moving body detection informationindicating that a moving body has been detected, as subject information.This moving body detection information (subject information) indicatesthat the subject 45 is near the commemorative photography spot 44 thatis the photography spot.

According to this configuration, the subject information detecting unit51 externally acquires subject information. The acquired subjectinformation is output from the accepting terminal 48 installed at thephotography area entrance 42 to the photography control server 50. Notethat in the detection of the subject 45 as a moving body, the subjectinformation detecting unit 51 does not necessarily have to performdetermination regarding whether the moving body is a subject. The reasonis that after having held the subject identification barcode tag 46 upto the accepting terminal 48 installed at the photography area entrance42, the subject 45 moves from the photography area entrance 42 towardthe commemorative photography spot 44.

The output subject information is output from the accepting terminal 48installed at the photography area entrance 42 to the photography controlserver 50. The subject information received by the photography controlserver 50 is output to the primary photography control unit 55. Uponreceiving the subject information, the primary photography control unit55 determines that the subject is moving from the photography areaentrance 42 toward the commemorative photography spot 44, and instructsthe photographing camera 47 to start photography. This instruction isoutput from the photography control server 50 to the photographingcamera 47. Upon having received (or acquired) the instruction to startphotography, the photographing camera 47 starts photography of a movingimage.

Upon receiving subject information indicating that the subject is nearthe commemorative photography spot 44 from the subject informationdetecting unit 51, the primary photography control unit 55 instructs thephotographing camera 47 to start photography of a moving image.

After having detected the subject moving from the commemorativephotography spot 44 toward the photography area exit 43, the subjectinformation detecting unit 51 of the accepting terminal 48 installed atthe photography area exit 43 measured the amount of time elapsed fromthe point that the moving body is no longer detected. When a state fromthis point that the moving body is no longer detected continues for acertain amount of time, the subject information detecting unit 51outputs moving body detection information indicating that the movingbody is no longer detected, as subject information.

The output subject information is transmitted from the acceptingterminal 48 installed at the photography area exit 43 to the photographycontrol server 50. The subject information received by the photographycontrol server 50 is output to the primary photography control unit 55.Upon receiving the subject information, the primary photography controlunit 55 instructs ending of photography. This instruction is output fromthe photography control server 50 to the photographing camera 47. Thephotographing camera 47 that has received the instruction to endphotography, ends photography.

The photographing camera 47 is connected to the photography controlserver 50, more specifically to the primary photography control unit 55,with control of photography including starting and stopping ofphotography being performed under the control of the primary photographycontrol unit 55. The photographing camera 47 also has functions ofautomatic adjusting focus in images being taken, and so forth.

Upon receiving an instruction to start photography from the primaryphotography control unit 55, the photographing camera 47 according tothe present embodiment performs photography as a moving image. Forexample, the photographing camera 47 shoots moving images of 30 framesper second. The photography data that has been taken is output from thephotographing camera 47 to the photography control server 50. Thephotography data received by the photography control server 50 istemporarily saved in the temporary photography data storage unit 54. Thephotography data of the moving image, and information associating thestart time when shooting of the moving image started and end time whenshooting of the moving image ended, are saved on the temporaryphotography data storage unit 54 as a table.

The temporary photography data storage unit 54 is a memory device (firstmemory) that temporarily saves photography data taken by thephotographing camera 47. The temporary photography data storage unit 54is realized by non-volatile memory such as FeRAM, for example, and hasfunctions of temporary storing photography data.

The subject identification information input unit 52 has functions ofacquiring subject IDs. The subject identification information input unit52 according to the present embodiment is provided as an ID inputfunction embedded in a terminal such as the accepting terminal 48illustrated in FIG. 18, where the subject 45 holding the subjectidentification barcode tag 46 up to the accepting terminal 48 enablesthe barcode to be read and the value that the barcode indicates (subjectID) to be acquired. The subject ID that has been acquired is output fromthe accepting terminal 48 to the photography control server 50 assubject identification information identifying the subject. The subjectidentification information received by the photography control server 50is output to the secondary photography control unit 56.

The secondary photography control unit 56 stores the subject IDindicated by the subject identification information received from thesubject identification information input unit 52 in memory (omitted fromillustration). The secondary photography control unit 56 extractsphotography data from the moving image photography data that has beentemporarily saved in the temporary photography data storage unit 54, inaccordance with the subject ID stored in memory, and saves the extractedphotography data in the photography data storage unit 57.

The secondary photography control unit 56 according to the presentembodiment extracts each of the image frames included in the photographydata saved in the temporary photography data storage unit 54 as stillimages, and determines whether or not the subject ID can be read fromthese still images. In a case where the subject ID has been read from astill image, this subject ID is matched with the subject ID that thesubject identification information indicates. In a case where thesematch, this means that the subject of the subject ID that the subjectidentification information indicates is in the image frame correspondingto the still image. The secondary photography control unit 56 also savesthe image frame, regarding which determination has been made that thesubject of the subject ID is in the image, in the photography datastorage unit 57 as photography data.

The photography data in the present embodiment is a moving image, soeven in a case where the subject ID could not be read in consecutiveframes immediately after an image frame where the subject ID was read,there are cases where the same subject ID is read again in later imageframes. In this case, the secondary photography control unit 56determines that the same subject ID is in image frames where the subjectID could not be read, as well. In this case, the maximum permissiblenumber of image frames where the subject ID is not readable may bedecided beforehand.

For example, if the number of image frames decided beforehand is ten,and the subject ID was read from a certain image frame (first imageframe) but not read in the immediately following image frame, and thereis another image frame where the subject ID can be read (second imageframe) within ten frames from the first image frame, the secondaryphotography control unit 56 may determine that the same subject ID is inthe image frames where the subject ID is not readable between the firstimage frame and the second image frame. The number of image framesdecided on may be an optional value. Thus, even in a case where thesubject ID temporarily becomes unreadable due to the subject 45 movingwithin the commemorative photography spot 44, the moving image can becontinuously extracted.

The photography data storage unit 57 is a memory device that savesphotography data extracted by the secondary photography control unit 56(second memory). The photography data storage unit 57 is realized bynon-volatile memory such as a hard disk for example, and has functionsof saving photography data. The configuration of the photography datastorage unit 57 is not restricted to the above-descried example, and maybe configured on a cloud server connected by the Internet. In this case,only the user (photographer) that knows the subject ID can acquirephotography data via the cloud server.

The above-described subject information detecting unit 51, primaryphotography control unit 55, subject identification information inputunit 52, and secondary photography control unit 56, function byprocessors executing programs stored in memory, thereby controlling theabove-described functional units.

2-3. Operations

Next, operations of the photography control system 2 illustrated in FIG.20 will be described. The operations of the photography control system 2are executed by a combination of primary photography processing andsecondary photography processing.

2-3-1. Primary Photography Processing

First, operations of primary photography processing of the photographycontrol system 2 will be described. FIG. 21 is a time chart illustratingan example of the flow of time in the primary photography processing ofthe photography control system 2. This time chart illustrates the timeup to a subject ID detected at the subject identification informationinput unit 52 of the accepting terminal 48 at the photography areaentrance 42 being detected by the subject identification informationinput unit 52 of the accepting terminal 48 at the photography area exit43, the time of the primary photography control unit 55 instructing thephotographing camera 47 to start photography, the time of instructingending of photography, and the time at which the subject identificationbarcode tag 46 of the same ID as the detected subject ID begins to showup in the photography data taken by the photographing camera 47 and thetime at which it show up no more.

Time t10 is the time at which the subject 45 has held the subjectidentification barcode tag 46 up to the accepting terminal 48 at thephotography area entrance 42 and the subject identification informationinput unit 52 has detected the subject ID. Time t19 is the time at whichthe subject 45 has held the subject identification barcode tag 46 up tothe accepting terminal 48 at the photography area exit 43 and thesubject identification information input unit 52 has detected thesubject ID. Since the subject 45 is in the photography area from timet10 to time t19, detection of the subject ID is performed only onphotography data of this time period, out of the photography data thathas been taken.

Time t11 and time t15 are times at which the subject informationdetecting unit 51 of the accepting terminal 48 at the photography areaentrance 42 has started to detect a moving body near the commemorativephotography spot 44. The primary photography control unit 55 instructsthe photographing camera 47 to start photography, and the photographingcamera 47 that has received this instruction starts photography of amoving image by the photographing camera 47 from this point in time.Also, time t14 and time t18 are times at which a state where no movingbody was detected has continued for a predetermined amount of time afterthe subject information detecting unit 51 of the accepting terminal 48at the photography area exit 43 no longer detects a moving body near thecommemorative photography spot 44. The primary photography control unit55 instructs the photographing camera 47 to stop photography at thesepoints in time. Accordingly, the time bar R11 from time t11 to time t14indicates the time period where the photography data R11 was taken, andthe time bar R12 from time t15 to time t18 indicates the time periodwhere the photography data R12 was taken.

Time t12 and time t16 are times where the subject identification barcodetag 46 was first detected from the image frames of the photography dataR11 and R12, respectively. Time t13 and time t17 are times where thesubject identification barcode tag 46 was no longer detected from theimage frames of the photography data R11 and R12, respectively.Accordingly, the time bar M1 from time t12 to time t13 represents thetime period of image frames where the subject identification barcode tag46 was detected from the photography data R11, and the time bar M2 fromtime t16 to time t17 represents the time period of image frames wherethe subject identification barcode tag 46 was detected from thephotography data R12.

FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating an example of a table that manages thephotography data from primary photography processing of the photographycontrol system 2 illustrated in FIG. 20, representing the content at thepoint of time t19 in FIG. 21, for example. The table illustrated in FIG.22 indicates that the photography data R11, taken by a photographyrequest from the primary photography control unit 55, was taken withphotography starting at time t11 and photography ending at time t14, andin the same way, the photography data R12 was taken with photographystarting at time t15 and photography ending at time t18. The datacorresponding to this table is saved in the temporary photography datastorage unit 54 along with the photography data.

FIG. 23 is a flowchart illustrating an example of procedures for primaryphotography processing of the photography control system 2 illustratedin FIG. 20. Upon detecting the subject 45 moving from the photographyarea entrance 42 toward the commemorative photography spot 44, thesubject information detecting unit 51 of the accepting terminal 48 atthe photography area entrance 42 outputs information of this detectionas subject information. This subject information is output to theprimary photography control unit 55, as described earlier. The primaryphotography control unit 55 determines whether or not there is a movingbody, by determining whether or not subject information has beenreceived from the accepting terminal 48 at the photography area entrance42 (step S1201). In a case of having received subject information fromthe accepting terminal 48 at the photography area entrance 42,determination is made that there is a moving body heading from thephotography area entrance 42 toward the commemorative photography spot44, and the flow advances to step S1202. On the other hand, in a case ofhaving received no subject information from the accepting terminal 48 atthe photography area entrance 42, determination is made that there is nomoving body heading from the photography area entrance 42 toward thecommemorative photography spot 44, and the flow returns to step S1201.

In step S1202, the primary photography control unit 55 instructs thephotographing camera 47 to start photography. The photographing camera47 that has received this instruction to start photography startsshooting a moving image.

Upon detecting the subject 45 moving from the commemorative photographyspot 44 toward the photography area exit 43, the subject informationdetecting unit 51 of the accepting terminal 48 at the photography areaexit 43 outputs information of this detection as (moving body detectioninformation). The accepting terminal 48 at the photography area exit 43outputs this moving body detection information to the photographycontrol server 50. The photography control server 50 outputs the movingbody detection information received from the accepting terminal 48 atthe photography area exit 43 to the primary photography control unit 55.The accepting terminal 48 at the photography area exit 43 may performmoving body detection information at certain time intervals. Forexample, as long as the moving body is present between the commemorativephotography spot 44 and the photography area exit 43 in this case, theprimary photography control unit 55 will continue to receive moving bodydetection information from the accepting terminal 48 at the photographyarea exit 43 at certain time intervals.

In a case where the subject information detecting unit 51 of theaccepting terminal 48 at the photography area exit 43 detects a movingbody and then does not detect the moving body any more, the subjectinformation detecting unit 51 measures the amount of time where a stateof not detecting the moving body has elapsed (duration) from the pointthat the moving body was no longer detected. This measurement can bemade using a timer (omitted from illustration), for example. In a casewhere the moving body is detected again before a certain duration isreached, the subject information detecting unit 51 resets the duration,and measures the duration when the moving body that has been detectedagain is no longer detected again.

When a state where no moving body is detected continues for a certainamount of time, the subject information detecting unit 51 of theaccepting terminal 48 at the photography area exit 43 outputsinformation indicating that the moving body has not been detected from acertain amount of time, as subject information. This subject informationindicates that the subject 45 has left the photography area. Thissubject information is output from the accepting terminal 48 at thephotography area exit 43 to the photography control server 50. Thephotography control server 50 outputs the subject information receivedform the accepting terminal 48 at the photography area exit 43 to theprimary photography control unit 55.

In step S1203, the primary photography control unit 55 determineswhether or not the moving body has not been detected for a certainamount of time, by determining whether or not subject information hasbeen received from the accepting terminal 48 at the photography areaexit 43. In a case where subject information has been received from theaccepting terminal 48 at the photography area exit 43, the primaryphotography control unit 55 determines that the moving body has not beendetected for a certain amount of time (Yes in step S1203), and the flowadvances to step S1204. Otherwise (No in step S1203), the flow returnsto step S1203.

In step S1204, the primary photography control unit 55 instructs thephotographing camera 47 to stop photography. The photographing camera 47that has received the instruction to stop photography, stopsphotography. The photography data of the moving image shot by thephotographing camera 47 during the time from starting to endingphotography is temporarily saved in the temporary photography datastorage unit 54. At this time, the primary photography control unit 55saves information associating the time at which taking of the movingimage started (start time) and the time at which taking of the movingimage ended (end time) with the photography data of the moving image, inthe temporary photography data storage unit 54 as a table.

Next, a specific example of primary photography processing in thephotography control system 2 will be described. The time period up totime t10 in FIG. 21, i.e., the state where step S1201 is being repeatedin FIG. 23, indicates that there is no subject in the photography area.

Time t10 is the time at which the subject 45 has held the subjectidentification barcode tag 46 up to the accepting terminal 48 at thephotography area entrance 42. This does not serve as a trigger toperform anything in the primary photography processing.

Time t11 is the time at which the subject information detecting unit 51of the accepting terminal 48 at the photography area entrance 42 hasstarted to detect the subject 45 moving from the photography areaentrance 42 toward the commemorative photography spot 44 as a movingbody. The subject information detecting unit 51 of the acceptingterminal 48 installed at the photography area entrance 42 outputsinformation indicating that a moving body has been detected, as subjectinformation. This subject information is output to the primaryphotography control unit 55, as described earlier. Upon receiving thesubject information, the primary photography control unit 55 determinesin step S1201 that a moving body has been detected, and the flowadvances to step S1202.

In step S1202, the primary photography control unit 55 instructs thephotographing camera 47 to start taking a moving image. This instructionto start photography is output to the photographing camera 47, asdescribed earlier. The photographing camera 47 takes moving images at 30frames per second, for example. The photographing camera 47 successivelytransmits the image frames taken every 1/30 seconds, for example, to thephotography control server 50. The photography control server 50successively saves the image frames successively received from thephotographing camera 47 in the photography data R11 in the temporaryphotography data storage unit 54. Information of the time of startingphotography by the photographing camera 47 is also added to the table inthe temporary photography data storage unit 54.

Upon detecting the subject 45 heading from the commemorative photographyspot 44 toward the photography area exit 43, the subject informationdetecting unit 51 of the accepting terminal 48 at the photography areaexit 43 outputs this information that has been detected (moving bodydetection information). This moving body detection information is outputto the primary photography control unit 55, as described above.Detection of the moving body heading from the commemorative photographyspot 44 toward the photography area exit 43 is performed at certain timeintervals. Each time a moving body is detected by the accepting terminal48 at the photography area exit 43, moving body detection information isoutput to the primary photography control unit 55.

On the other hand, when the moving body is no longer detected, thesubject information detecting unit 51 of the accepting terminal 48 atthe photography area exit 43 measures the amount of time over which astate continues where the moving body is not detected, from this pointwhere the moving body is no longer detected. When a state where themoving body is not detected continues for a certain amount of time,information indicating that the moving body has not been detected for acertain amount of time is output as subject information. This subjectinformation is output to the primary photography control unit 55, asdescribed earlier. This, the primary photography control unit 55determines whether or not the moving body is no longer detected for acertain amount of time, by determining whether or not subjectinformation has been received from the accepting terminal 48 at thephotography area exit 43.

In a case of having received subject information from the acceptingterminal 48 at the photography area exit 43, the primary photographycontrol unit 55 determines that the moving body is no longer detectedfor a certain amount of time (Yes in step S1203), and the flow advancesto step S1204. Otherwise (No in step S1203), the flow returns to stepS1203.

For example, the time at which the primary photography control unit 55receives the subject information from the accepting terminal 48 at thephotography area exit 43 and the primary photography control unit 55determines that no moving body has been detected for a certain amount oftime in step S1203, is time t14. At this time, the primary photographycontrol unit 55 instructs the photographing camera 47 to endphotography. The instruction to end photography is output from thephotography control server 50 to the photographing camera 47. Thephotographing camera 47 that has received the instruction to endphotography, ends photography.

Although time t19 is the time at which the subject 45 has held thesubject identification barcode tag 46 up to the accepting terminal 48 atthe photography area exit 43, this does not serve as a trigger toperform anything in the primary photography processing. This so far hasbeen a description of the primary photography processing performed inthe photography control system 2.

2-3-2. Secondary Photography Processing

Next, secondary photography processing in the photography control system2 will be described. FIG. 24 is a diagram illustrating an example of atable associating subject IDs and photography data, in secondaryphotography processing in the photography control system 2 illustratedin FIG. 20. The table in FIG. 24 shows that photography data M1 taken ofa subject of which the subject ID is ID5 (subject ID5) is photographydata of which the photography time is from time t12 to time t13, andthat photography data M2 taken of a subject of which the subject ID isID5 is photography data of which the photography time is from time t16to time t17. The data corresponding to this table is saved in thephotography data storage unit 57 along with the photography data. Thus,the photography data M1 extracted from the photography data R11 isassociated with the subject ID5 and saved in the photography datastorage unit 57. In the same way, the photography data M2 extracted fromthe photography data R12 is associated with the subject ID5 and saved inthe photography data storage unit 57.

FIG. 25 is a flowchart illustrating an example of procedures of thesecondary photography processing in the photography control system 2illustrated in FIG. 20. First, determination is made regarding whetheror not a person, who is the subject 45, has entered from the photographyarea entrance 42 (step S1301). Upon the subject 45 holding the subjectidentification barcode tag 46 up to the accepting terminal 48 installedat the photography area entrance 42, the subject identificationinformation input unit 52 of the accepting terminal 48 installed at thephotography area entrance 42 detects the subject ID, and outputs subjectidentification information including the detected subject ID and thetime of detection (time of entry). This subject identificationinformation is output to the secondary photography control unit 56 asdescribed earlier. Thus, the secondary photography control unit 56 candetermine whether or not there has been an entry, by determining whetheror not subject identification information has been received from theaccepting terminal 48 at the photography area entrance 42. In a casewhere subject identification information has been received from theaccepting terminal 48 at the photography area entrance 42, the secondaryphotography control unit 56 determines that there has been an enteringperson (Yes in step S1301), and the flow advances to step S1302. On theother hand, in a case where no subject identification information hasbeen received from the accepting terminal 48 at the photography areaentrance 42, the secondary photography control unit 56 determines thatthere has been no entering person (No in step S1301), and the flowreturns to step S1301.

Upon the subject 45 holding the subject identification barcode tag 46 upto the accepting terminal 48 installed at the photography area exit 43,the subject identification information input unit 52 of the acceptingterminal 48 installed at the photography area exit 43 detects thesubject ID, and outputs the detected subject ID as subjectidentification information. This subject identification information isoutput to the secondary photography control unit 56, as describedearlier. Accordingly, the secondary photography control unit 56determines whether or not there has been an exiting person bydetermining whether or not subject identification information has beenreceived from the accepting terminal 48 at the photography area exit 43.In a case where subject identification information has been receivedfrom the accepting terminal 48 at the photography area exit 43,determination is made that there has been an exiting person (Yes in stepS1302), and the flow advances to step S1303. On the other hand, in acase where no subject identification information has been received fromthe accepting terminal 48 at the photography area exit 43, determinationis made that there has been no exiting person (No in step S1302), andthe flow returns to step S1302.

Assumption is being made here that the subject ID indicated by thesubject identification information received in both step S1301 and stepS1302 is subject ID5. Further, the time period over which the subject 45having the subject ID5 was in the photography area is from time t1 totime t19.

In step S1303, the secondary photography control unit 56 determineswhether or not there is photography data that the subject 45 is in, inthe photography data (moving image) for the time that the subject 45 wasin the photography area. In a case where determination is made thatthere is photography data that the subject 45 is in (Yes in step S1303),the flow advances to step S1304, and otherwise (No in step S1303), thesecondary photography processing ends.

If photography data that the subject 45 is in can be extracted from thephotography data taken in the primary photography processing at the timeperiod when the subject 45 was in the photography area, after thesubject 45 has exited the photography area, the secondary photographycontrol unit 56 determines that the subject 45 is in the extractedphotography data. That is to say, determination is made that the subject45 is in the photography data (moving image) for the time that thesubject 45 was in the photography area.

In step S1303, the secondary photography control unit 56 firstreferences the table in the temporary photography data storage unit 54and identifies photography data temporarily saved, to use for extractingthe photography data taken of the subject 45. In this case, thephotography data is the photography data R11 and photography data R12.The secondary photography control unit 56 then attempts to detect thesubject ID from the photography data R11 and photography data R12 savedin the primary photography processing.

Description will be made here regarding processing of extracting thesubject ID from the photography data R11 of the moving image, tosimplify description. The subject ID that the subject identificationinformation indicates is subject ID5. Processing for detecting thesubject ID from the photography data R12 of the moving image is the sameas the processing for detecting the subject ID from the photography dataR11 of the moving image, so description will be omitted here.

Now, detection of the subject ID from the photography data R11 isperformed by extracting each of the image frames included in thephotography data R11 of the moving image as still images, anddetermining whether or not the subject ID can be read from these stillimages, as described earlier. In a case where the subject ID has beenread from a still image, this subject ID is matched with the subject IDthat the subject identification information indicates. In a case wherethese match, determination is made that the subject of the subject IDthat the subject identification information indicates is in the imageframe corresponding to the still image.

In step S1304, the secondary photography control unit 56 extracts theimage frames in the photography data R11 regarding which determinationhas been made that the subject of subject ID5 is in, and the extractedphotography data is saved in the photography data storage unit 57 asphotography data M1. Description will be made here assuming that thereare multiple sets of extracted photography data.

Note that even in a case where the subject ID could not be read inconsecutive frames immediately after an image frame where the subject IDwas read, there are cases where the same subject ID is read again inlater image frames. In this case, the secondary photography control unit56 determines that the same subject ID is in image frames where thesubject ID could not be read, as well. Thus, even if the subjecttemporarily turns sideways and the subject identification barcode tag 46is not in the images, these can be determined to be image frames thatthe subject is in. Image frames regarding which determination has beenmade that the subject is in are saved in the photography data storageunit 57 as photography data M1 (step S1304), and the secondaryphotography processing ends.

Information associating the subject ID5, oldest time in photography timeout of the image frames regarding which determination has been made thatthe subject of subject ID5 is in (start time t12), and newest time inphotography time (end time t13), with the photography data M1, is savedin the table in photography data storage unit 57. Further, as a resultof performing step S1303 and step S1304 on the photography data R12,information associating the subject ID5, oldest time in photography timeout of the image frames regarding which determination has been made thatthe subject of subject ID5 is in (start time t16), and newest time inphotography time (end time t17), with the photography data M2, is savedin the table in photography data storage unit 57.

Next, a specific example of the secondary photography processing in thephotography control system 2 will be described. In the secondaryphotography processing according to eth present embodiment, the subject45 first holds up the subject identification barcode tag 46 to theaccepting terminal 48 installed at the photography area entrance 42 attime t10 in FIG. 21, upon which the subject identification informationinput unit 52 of the accepting terminal 48 reads the QR code printed onthe subject identification barcode tag 46, and detects (or acquires) thevalue that the QR code indicates (subject ID5). The subjectidentification information input unit 52 outputs subject identificationinformation including the time at which the subject ID5 was detected(entering time) and the subject ID5. This subject identificationinformation is output to the secondary photography control unit 56, asdescribed earlier. A determination of Yes is yielded in step S1301 bythe secondary photography control unit 56 receiving the subjectidentification information from the accepting terminal 48 at thephotography area entrance 42. Note that much literature and manyalgorithms have been disclosed for methods of reading the QR code anddetecting the value indicated by the QR code, so detailed descriptionwill be omitted here.

Next, the subject 45 holds up the subject identification barcode tag 46to the accepting terminal 48 installed at the photography area exit 43at time t19, upon which the subject identification information inputunit 52 of the accepting terminal 48 reads the QR code printed on thesubject identification barcode tag 46, and detects (or acquires) thevalue that the QR code indicates (subject ID5). The subjectidentification information input unit 52 outputs subject identificationinformation including the time at which the subject ID5 was detected(exiting time) and the subject ID5. This subject identificationinformation is output to the secondary photography control unit 56, asdescribed earlier. A determination of Yes is yielded in step S1302 bythe secondary photography control unit 56 receiving the subjectidentification information from the accepting terminal 48 at thephotography area exit 43.

During step S1301 to step S1302, i.e., which the subject 45 of thesubject ID5 is in the photography area, the photography data R11 of thesubject 45 from time t11 to time t14, and the photography data R12 ofthe subject 45 from time t15 to time t18, are each saved in thetemporary photography data storage unit 54.

The secondary photography control unit 56 according to the presentembodiment extracts photography data that the subject of subject ID5 isin, from the photography data R11 of a moving image and the photographydata R12 of a moving image, that are saved in the temporary photographydata storage unit 54 (step S1303).

It can be seen from FIG. 21 that the photography data taken by theprimary photography processing during the start time t10 through endtime t19 is the two of the photography data R11 from time t11 to timet14, and the photography data R12 from time t15 to time t18. Thesecondary photography control unit 56 extracts photography data that thesubject 45 is in from these two sets of photography data.

In step S1303, the secondary photography control unit 56 first startsthe task of reading out and extracting the photography data R11 from thetemporary photography data storage unit 54. Whether or not the subject45 is in the photography data is determined by detecting the QR code ofthe subject identification barcode tag 46 that the subject 45 iscarrying as illustrated in FIG. 19, from the image data obtained byextracting each frame of the moving image that is the photography dataas still images, and determining the subject ID that the QR codeindicates is the subject ID acquired by the subject identificationinformation input unit 52, i.e., whether or not the subject ID5. Themoving image extracted as photography data of the subject ID5 n thepresent embodiment is a moving image started from the frame where thesubject ID5, which is the subject ID of the subject 45, was firstdetected, i.e., from the frame at time t12 in FIG. 21.

The secondary photography control unit 56 then checks the time at whichthe QR code of the subject identification barcode tag 46 is no longerdetected from the images where the frames of the moving image that isthe photography data have been successively extracted as still images,or the subject ID that the detected QR code is other than the subjectID5, and sets the time t13 at which the subject ID5 is no longerdetected as the end time for the photography data regarding the subjectID5. Thus, the secondary photography control unit 56 extractsphotography data of the time period where the subject 45 is included,from the photography data R11 taken in the primary photographyprocessing, and saves this in the photography data storage unit 57 asphotography data M1.

The secondary photography control unit 56 also saves information thatthe photography data M1 of the subject ID5 has been saved as a movingimage from time t12 to time t13 in the table in the photography datastorage unit 57, as information of the photography data that has beentaken. In the same way, the task of reading out and extracting thephotography data R12 from the temporary photography data storage unit 54is performed, and a moving image of the subject ID5 from time t16 totime t17 is saved in the photography data storage unit 57 as photographydata M2.

Thus, the subject 45 can shoot a moving image using the photographingcamera 47 at the commemorative photography spot 44 in front of themonument 41. The subject 45 can also access the moving image photographydata of the subject ID5 saved in the photography data storage unit 57.The photography data taken with regard to the subject ID5 of the subjectidentification barcode tag 46 that the subject 45 carries may be savedin a cloud region dedicated for the subject ID5 on the Internet, and thesubject 45 can acquire the photography data by accessing this cloudregion. This so far has been description of the secondary photographyprocessing performed in the photography control system 2.

Although an example has described in the present embodiment where thephotographing camera 47, accepting terminal 48, and photography controlserver 50 are all physically separate entities, this is not restrictive.For example, the requisites of the photography control server 50 may beassembled into the photographing camera 47. In this case, the deviceobtained by assembling the requisites of the photography control server50 into the photographing camera 47 may be referred to either as aphotographing camera or a photography control server. Conversely, therequisites of the photography control server 50 may be assembled intothe accepting terminal 48. In this case, the device obtained byassembling the requisites of the photography control server 50 into theaccepting terminal 48 may be referred to either as an accepting terminalor a photography control server.

2-4. Advantages

According to the present embodiment, a moving image of around thecommemorative photography spot 44 may be taken by primary photographyprocessing during the time period where the moving body is beingdetected, and in the secondary photography processing detect the subjectID of the subject 45 from the moving image that has been taken, extractonly a moving image of the time period where the subject 45 is in themoving image, and save in the photography data storage unit 57. Thus,only the subject him/herself having the subject ID can acquirephotography data of him/herself at the time period when the subject wasat the photography spot.

3. Third Embodiment

Next, a photography control system according to a third embodiment ofthe present disclosure will be described with reference to drawings. Thephotography control system is a system for providing a service where asubject him/herself can operate a photographing camera installed atphotography spots, such as theme parks, amusement facilities,sightseeing destinations, and so forth, to perform photography andacquire photography data. Description will be made in the presentembodiment regarding an example where a commemorative photography spothas been provided in a photography area in front of a monument, as aphotography spot in an amusement facility, and commemorative photographyis made in still images. Note that the present embodiment assumes thatonly one set of subjects enter the commemorative photography spot at onetime.

3.1. Overview

FIG. 26 is a diagram illustrating an example of a scene where aphotography control system according to the third embodiment of thepresent disclosure is being used. In FIG. 26, the photography spot has amonument 61, a commemorative photography spot 62, a photographing camera63, and a photographing terminal 64. The commemorative photography spot62 is positioned such that a photograph of a desirable angle can betaken if a subject stands at this position for photography by thephotographing camera 63, and is a circle drawn on the ground serving asa mark. The photographing camera 63 is attached to a pole 63 a and facesthe commemorative photography spot 62, so as to be able to photographsubjects who are people at the commemorative photography spot 62 alongwith the monument 61. The photographing terminal 64 according to thepresent embodiment has later-described IC chip detection functions, anda photography button that the photographer presses as a trigger forphotography.

FIG. 27 is a diagram illustrating an instance of performing photographyin the scene in FIG. 26 where the photography control system is beingused. A subject 65 is standing at the commemorative photography spot 62in FIG. 27.

FIG. 28 is a diagram illustrating the external view of an example of asubject identification wristband worn by the subject 65 illustrated inFIG. 27. The subject identification wristband 66 illustrated in FIG. 28is used to identify subjects. The subject identification wristband 66has an embedded IC chip, in which identification information foridentifying the subject (identification information unique to thesubject) is registered. The photographing terminal 64 is capable ofreading the identification information of the subject. Much literatureand many algorithms have been disclosed for arrangements to readidentification information of a subject registered in an IC chip, sodetailed description will be omitted here.

The photographing camera 63 and photographing terminal 64 are connectedby network, and are capable of exchanging necessary information witheach other through communication. The network includes a networkcorresponding to the Internet, to enable photography data taken by thephotographing camera 63 to be provided to the user via the Internet. Thephotographing camera 63 and photographing terminal 64 are each connectedto a photography control server 70 via the network. Details of thephotography control server 70 will be described later.

In the present embodiment, the subject 65 operates the photographingterminal 64 at the commemorative photography spot 62 to photography thesubject him/herself and the monument 61 using the photographing camera63. The subject 65 holds up the subject identification wristband 66serving as his/her own (subject) identification information (hereinafterreferred to as “subject ID”) to the photographing terminal 64. Thephotographing terminal 64 reads the subject ID, and performs photographyoperation by the subject 65.

In the present embodiment, the subject 65 is also the photographer. Uponthe subject 65 pressing the photography button provided to thephotographing terminal 64, the photographing terminal 64 outputs aphotography instruction to the photography control server 70. Thephotography control server 70 receives (or acquires) the photographyinstruction, and instructs the photographing camera 63 to startphotography. Upon receiving (or acquiring) the instruction to startphotography, the photographing camera 63 performs photography.

The photography data taken by the photographing camera 63 is output tothe photography control server 70. The photography control server 70associates the received (or acquired) photography data with the subjectID, and saves in memory (omitted from illustration). The photographydata may be associated with the subject ID and saved in a photographydata storage unit in an Internet cloud. In this case, the subject 65accesses the photography data storage unit in the Internet cloud usinghis/her own subject ID after performing photography, and thus canacquire the photography data that has been taken, i.e., image data ofthe photograph.

3-2. Configuration

Next, the configuration of the photography control system according tothe present embodiment will be described. FIG. 29 is a block diagramillustrating an example of the configuration of the photography controlsystem according to the third embodiment. The photography control system3 illustrated in FIG. 29 has the photographing camera 63, photographingterminal 64, and photography control server 70. The photography controlserver 70 includes a subject information detecting unit 71, a primaryphotography control unit 72, a secondary photography control unit 73, atemporary photography data storage unit 74, and a photography datastorage unit 75. The photographing terminal 64 includes a subjectidentification information input unit 76.

Note that the photographing camera 63, photographing terminal 64, andphotography control server 70 are connected via network through certaincommunication units to be able to exchange information with each otherby communication, but the communication units of each have been omittedfrom illustration in FIG. 29 to simplify the drawing. Also, aphotography button is embedded in the subject identification informationinput unit 76 of the photographing terminal 64, but illustrating of thephotography button has also been omitted to simplify the drawing.

When the subject holds the subject identification wristband 66 up to thephotographing terminal 64, the subject identification information inputunit 76 reads the subject ID registered in the IC chip embedded in thesubject identification wristband 66. Thus, the subject identificationinformation input unit 76 externally acquires the subject ID. Theacquired subject ID is output from the photographing terminal 64 to thephotography control server 70 as subject identification information. Thephotography control server 70 outputs the received (or acquired) subjectidentification information to the secondary photography control unit 73.Thus, the secondary photography control unit 73 can receive (or acquire)subject identification information from the photographing terminal 64.

The secondary photography control unit 73 stores the subject ID that thereceived subject identification information indicates in memory (omittedfrom illustration). In a case of performing photography, the subject 65who is at the commemorative photography spot 62 presses the photographybutton embedded in the subject identification information input unit 76.

Upon the photography button being pressed, the subject identificationinformation input unit 76 outputs information indicating that thephotography button has been pressed (i.e., a photography trigger). Thephotography trigger is output from the photographing terminal 64 to thephotography control server 70. The photography trigger that thephotography control server 70 has received is output to the secondaryphotography control unit 73. Accordingly, the secondary photographycontrol unit 73 can receive (or acquire) the photography trigger fromthe photographing terminal 64. When the photography trigger has beenreceived, the secondary photography control unit 73 outputs the subjectID sorted in memory to the subject information detecting unit 71.According to this arrangement, when the photography button that thephotographing terminal 64 has is pressed, the subject informationdetecting unit 71 can receive (or acquire) the subject ID from thesecondary photography control unit 73.

The subject information detecting unit 71 outputs the subject IDreceived from the secondary photography control unit 73 to the primaryphotography control unit 72 as subject information. Subject informationis output from the subject information detecting unit 71 in conjunctionwith the subject 65 at the commemorative photography spot 62 pressingthe photography button. Accordingly, the subject information indicatesthat the subject 65 is at the commemorative photography spot 62 which isa photography spot.

The primary photography control unit 72 takes the subject informationreceived from the subject information detecting unit 71 as a trigger,and instructs the photographing camera 63 to perform photography. Thephotography instruction may include the received subject ID.

The photography instruction is output from the photography controlserver 70 to the photographing camera 63. The photographing camera 63receives the photography instruction from the primary photographycontrol unit 72 and performs photography of the commemorativephotography spot 62. The photographing camera 63 correlates informationindicating the time of performing photography (photography time) andphotograph data acquired by performing photography at this time. Thephotography time may be included in the photograph data, or may beseparate from the photograph data.

The photographing camera 63 gives instructions to save the photographydata in the temporary photography data storage unit 74. This instructionis output to the photography control server 70 along with thephotography data and the subject ID. The photography control server 70follows the received instructions to save the photography data in thetemporary photography data storage unit 74. The photography controlserver 70 also temporarily stores information associating thephotography data received from the photographing camera 63 with thesubject ID and photography time of the photography data, in thetemporary photography data storage unit 74 as a table.

The secondary photography control unit 73 receives the subject ID fromthe subject identification information input unit 76, reads thephotography data taken by the photographing camera 63 from the temporaryphotography data storage unit 74, confirms that the subject ID of thephotography data saved in the temporary photography data storage unit 74and the subject ID received from the subject identification informationinput unit 76 match, and having confirmed this, saves the photographydata in a region of the photography data storage unit 75 associated withthe subject ID. Note that the subject information detecting unit 71,primary photography control unit 72, subject identification informationinput unit 76, and secondary photography control unit 73 function byprocessors executing programs stored in memory, thereby controlling theabove-described functional units.

3-3. Operations

Next, operations of the photography control system 3 illustrated in FIG.29 will be described. FIG. 30 is a diagram illustrating an example of atable associating the subject ID and photography data in the photographyprocessing of the photography control system 3 illustrated in FIG. 29.In the table in FIG. 30, the photography data P1 taken of a subject ofsubject ID6 is shown to have been taken at time t21, and the photographydata P2 taken of the subject of subject ID6 is shown to have been takenat time t22. Data corresponding to this table is saved in the table inthe photography data storage unit 75 along with the photography data.Thus, the photography data P1 is associated with the subject ID6 andsaved in the photography data storage unit 75 along with the photographydata.

FIG. 31 is a flowchart illustrating an example of procedures of thephotography processing in the photography control system 3 illustratedin FIG. 29. Upon acquiring the subject ID from the IC chip in thesubject identification wristband 66, the subject identificationinformation input unit 76 outputs the subject ID as subjectidentification information. This subject identification information isoutput to the secondary photography control unit 73, as describedearlier.

In step S1401, the secondary photography control unit 73 determineswhether or not there has been acquisition of a subject ID at thephotographing terminal 64, by determining whether or not subjectidentification information has been received from the photographingterminal 64, for example. In a case where subject identificationinformation has been received from the photographing terminal 64,determination is made that the photographing terminal 64 has acquiredthe subject ID (Yes in step S1401), and the flow advances to step S1402.On the other hand, in a case where subject identification informationhas not been received from the photographing terminal 64, determinationis made that the photographing terminal 64 has not acquired a subject ID(No in step S1401), and the flow returns to step S1401.

When the subject 65 presses the photography button embedded in thesubject identification information input unit 76 of the photographingterminal 64, the subject identification information input unit 76outputs a photography trigger. This photography trigger is output to thephotography control server 70. The photography control server 70receives this trigger and instructs photography by the photographingcamera 63.

Upon receiving this instruction for photography, the photographingcamera 63 performs photography. The photographing camera 63 also givesan instruction to save the photography data in the temporary photographydata storage unit 74. This instruction is output to the photographycontrol server 70 along with the photography data. The photographycontrol server 70 saves photography data received according to theinstruction in the temporary photography data storage unit 74 (stepS1402).

Specifically, upon receiving the photography trigger from thephotographing terminal 64, the secondary photography control unit 73outputs the subject ID stored in memory to the subject informationdetecting unit 71. This means that the subject identificationinformation (subject ID) received in step S1401 is output to the subjectinformation detecting unit 71. The subject information detecting unit 71outputs the subject ID received (or acquired) from the secondaryphotography control unit 73 to the primary photography control unit 72as subject information. Upon receiving the subject information from thesubject information detecting unit 71, the primary photography controlunit 72 instructs the photographing camera 63 to perform photography.The photographing camera 63 temporarily saves the photography data thathas been taken in the temporary photography data storage unit 74.

Next, the secondary photography control unit 73 reads thetemporarily-saved photography data from the temporary photography datastorage unit 74, and saves the photography data in the photography datastorage unit 75 upon having confirmed that the subject ID of thephotography data saved in memory and the subject ID acquired at thesubject identification information input unit 76 match. Informationassociating the photography data, the subject ID, and the date and timeof photography, is saved in the photography data storage unit 75 as atable (step S1403).

Next, a specific example of the photography processing in thephotography control system 3 will be described. First, the subject 65moves to the commemorative photography spot 62 where there is themonument 61, and holds the subject identification wristband 66 that hasthe subject ID embedded up to the photographing terminal 64. The subjectidentification information input unit 76 acquires the subject ID of thesubject identification wristband 66 that the photographing terminal 64has detected, i.e., the ID6 (subject ID6) in the present embodiment. Thesubject identification information input unit 76 repeatedly performsdetection of subject ID until a subject ID is acquired from the subject65. Once a subject ID is acquired, the subject identificationinformation input unit 76 outputs the acquired subject ID to thesecondary photography control unit 73 as subject identificationinformation. The secondary photography control unit 73 receives thesubject identification information (Yes in step S1401) and advances tothe next processing (step S1402).

The secondary photography control unit 73 that has received the subjectidentification information stands by for a photography instruction fromthe photographer, i.e., the subject 65. In the present embodiment, thephotographer gives a photography instruction by pressing the photographybutton provided to the photographing terminal 64. An arrangement may bemade where the photographing terminal 64 further has a display unit,whereby an image for confirmation of the image that the photographingcamera 63 is going to take can displayed, so the subject 65 can confirmthe position of the photographing camera 63, and find a desirable posefor photography.

At time t21, the subject 65 presses the photography button of thephotographing terminal 64, thereby issuing a photography trigger to thesecondary photography control unit 73. The secondary photography controlunit 73 that has received the photography trigger outputs the subject IDto the subject information detecting unit 71.

The subject information detecting unit 71 that has received the subjectID from the secondary photography control unit 73 outputs the receivedsubject ID to the primary photography control unit 72 as subjectinformation. The primary photography control unit 72 takes the subjectinformation from the subject information detecting unit 71 as a triggerto instruct the photographing camera 63 to perform photography.

In the present embodiment, upon receiving an instruction for photographyfrom the primary photography control unit 72, the photographing camera63 performs photography of the commemorative photography spot 62. Thephotographing camera 63 saves the photography data in the temporaryphotography data storage unit 74 in a manner associated with the subjectID (step S1402). Photography data in the present embodiment is a data ofa single image, i.e., photograph data.

Next, the secondary photography control unit 73 confirms that thesubject ID of the photography data saved in the temporary photographydata storage unit 74 and the acquired subject ID match, and save thephotography data in the photography data storage unit 75 in a mannerassociated with the subject ID (step S1403).

FIG. 30 illustrates an example of associating photography data andsubject ID, as information saved in the form of a table. For example,this indicates that the photography data P1 regarding which thephotography instruction was given at time t21 is associated with thesubject ID6. This also indicates that the subject 65 gave a photographyinstruction for a second photograph at time t22, which was saved asphotography data P2. Data indicating recording of these photographs isalso saved in the photography data storage unit 75. Accordingly, thephotography data saved in the photography data storage unit 75associated with the subject ID can only be accessed by the subject 65who can know the subject ID6, and thus can acquire the photography datafrom the photography data storage unit 75.

The photography processing performed in the photography control system 3has been described so far. Although an example has described in thepresent embodiment where the photographing camera 63, photographingterminal 64 and photography control server 70 are all physicallyseparate entities, this is not restrictive. For example, the requisitesof the photography control server 70 may be assembled into thephotographing camera 63. In this case, the device obtained by assemblingthe requisites of the photography control server 70 into thephotographing camera 63 may be referred to either as a photographingcamera or a photography control server. Conversely, the requisites ofthe photography control server 70 may be assembled into thephotographing terminal 64. In this case, the device obtained byassembling the requisites of the photography control server 70 into thephotographing terminal 64 may be referred to either as an photographingterminal or a photography control server.

3-4. Advantages

According to the present embodiment, by holding up to the photographingterminal 64 the subject identification wristband 66 in which isregistered the subject ID of the subject 65, and pressing thephotography button provided to the photographing terminal 64, thesubject 65 can take his/her own photograph at the commemorativephotography spot 62, and can acquire the taken photography data usingthe subject ID. Other photographers who cannot know the subject ID ofthe subject 65 can neither photograph the subject 65 at thecommemorative photography spot 62 nor acquire photography data that thesubject 65 has taken, so the subject 65 can perform photography withprivacy protected using the photography control system 3.

4. Modifications

Although three embodiments of the photography control system accordingto the present disclosure have been described above, the photographycontrol system that has been exemplarily illustrated may be modified asfollows, and it goes without saying that the present disclosure is notrestricted to the photography control system described above.

(1) Although the above embodiments do not describe how to deletephotography data and table information temporarily saved in thetemporary photography data storage unit, the photography data and tableinformation can be deleted by a method appropriate for the usage form ofthe photography control system, such as deleting at nighttime in a casewhere the photography control system is stopped at night, deleting whenall target subjects have executed the photography spot (or photographyarea), deleting when available memory is running low, deleting at thepoint that primary photography processing has ended, and so forth.

(2) Although the first embodiment described above has been describedregarding an arrangement where the pavilion entrance 11 and pavilionexit 12 are provided at different locations, and the accepting terminalsare installed at both, one accepting terminal 15 can be used to detectboth entry and exiting in a case where there is only one entry/exit. Inthe same way, an arrangement may be made regarding the photography areaentrance 42 and photography area exit 43, where there is only oneentry/exit, and a single accepting terminal detects both entry andexiting.

(3) Although an arrangement has been illustrated in the aboveembodiments where a subject identification barcode card, subjectidentification barcode tag, and subject identification wristband areused as examples for identifying the subject ID, other identificationmethods may be used depending on the usage form of the photographycontrol system. For example, in a case of detecting the subject ID fromimages in the photography data such as in the photography control system2, feature information indicating features of facial images of theperson serving as the subject may be used as a subject ID. The subjectcan thus be identified by facial recognition. A linear barcode or colorbarcode or the like may be used instead of a QR code.

Also, in a case where there is no need to detect the subject ID fromimages in the photography data, as in the photography control system 1and photography control system 3, IC functions of a smartphone,radio-frequency (RF) tags, Bluetooth (a registered trademark) tags,light ID, and various other such devices can be used for identificationinstead of devices such as the subject identification barcode card andsubject identification wristband having an IC chip embedded. Muchliterature and many algorithms have been disclosed for ID detection oridentification methods by facial recognition, color barcodes, RF tags,Bluetooth tags, light ID, and so forth, so detailed description will beomitted here.

(4) There may be cases in the above embodiments where the subjectforgets to perform exiting procedures with the accepting terminal at thepavilion exit 12 or photography area exit 43. Arrangements may be made,for example, where when the subject enters a different pavilion orphotography area, exiting processing of the previous pavilion orphotography area is automatically performed, exiting processing isautomatically performed after a predetermined amount of time has passedafter having entered a pavilion or photography area, or the like.Further, an arrangement may be made where photography by thephotographing camera is stopped after a predetermined amount of time haspassed after having entered a pavilion or photography area.

(5) Although description has been made in the above embodiments wherethere is only one photographer as to one photographing camera at thesame time, multiple photographing terminals may be used to photographymultiple photographers having different subject IDs at the same time.The present photography control system is not one where the photographerdirectly gives photography instructions to the photographing camera, butthe photographing camera performs photography and the photographer givesextraction instructions regarding photography data that has beentemporarily saved. Accordingly, even if multiple photographers giveinstructions at exactly the same timing, photography data that eachphotographer can be satisfied with can be acquired by the samephotography data being saved under the subject IDs of each.

In the example of the photography control system 1, photography isperformed at 60 frames per second from the start of photography by thephotographing camera, so delay of photography data in a case of thephotographer giving an instruction can be kept within 1/60 seconds forany photographer. However, in a case of commemorative photographyinvolving faster movement, such as photographing a subject riding on aroller coaster in an amusement park for example, performing primaryphotography at a faster frame rate can enable photography data to beacquired at a timing that satisfies the photographer.

(6) Although a case has been described in the above embodiments wherethere is only one photographing camera that is the object of aphotographing terminal, an arrangement may be made where photographydata is acquired by one photographing terminal handling photography datafrom multiple photographing cameras. An arrangement may also be madewhere, in a case that the subject ID acquired by the subject informationdetecting unit 21 and the subject ID acquired by the subjectidentification information input unit 22 match, the secondaryphotography control unit 26 notifies the user of the photography spotwhere the subject can be photographed. For example, an arrangement maybe made where a list of multiple photography spots are displayed on aphotographing terminal, and photography areas where there is anaccepting terminal at the entrance to which the subject has held up abarcode or the like are highlighted, so the user can tell whichphotography area the subject is at, and can perform photography at thatphotography area.

In a case of installing a dedicatee program in an individually-ownedmobile terminal connected to the Internet to use as the photographingterminal, photography (extraction from temporarily-saved photographydata) can be performed from a remote location, such as from the home forexample, as long as the user knows the subject ID beforehand. This wouldenable taking photographs of children on a field trip, for example.

(7) Although an arrangement has been described in the above embodimentswhere the photographing terminal has a photography button, and thephotographer performs photography, i.e., instruction of the timing ofacquisition of photography data, by pressing the photography button, anarrangement may be made where a button is displayed on a screen of thephotographing terminal, so that the photographer can give instruction bytouching the button on a touch panel on the screen.

(8) In the above embodiments, in a case where the delay time fordisplaying photography data taken by the photographing camera on thephotographing terminal is short, the photographer can give instructionswhile viewing the actual subject instead of an image displayed on thephotographing terminal. Conversely, photography data taken in the pastmay be displayed on the photographing terminal to give photographyinstructions. For example, in a case where the photographer and thesubject are the same person, the photographer him/herself may inter thephotography area where photography data from primary photography istaken, and then exit the photography area, confirm the photography data,and acquire a photograph from a desired timing.

(9) Although an arrangement has been described in the above embodimentswhere all photography data during detection of a moving body in theprimary photography processing by the photography control system 2 issaved in the temporary photography data storage unit, no photographydata (image frames) where no subject ID is detected will be extracted inthe secondary photography processing. Accordingly, storage capacity ofthe temporary photography data storage unit can be conserved, by savingjust photography data in the temporary photography data storage unitregarding which a subject ID has been detected beforehand in the primaryphotography processing.

(10) Although an arrangement has been described in the above embodimentswhere conditions for performing primary photography in the photographycontrol system 2 are that the subject is in the photography area andalso a moving body is being detected, an arrangement may be made wherejust detection of a moving body is the photography condition, withoutusing whether or not the subject is in the photography area as acondition. Further, an arrangement may be made where there are notphotography conditions in the primary photography, with photographybeing performed at all times.

(11) Although an arrangement has been described in the above embodimentswhere the photographer instructs the photography timing in thephotography control system 1, an arrangement may be made where theaccepting terminal detects the subject ID when the subject gets into aride at an attraction, for example, a photography data corresponding tothe subject ID is acquired by automatic photography being performed eachtime the ride passes in front of the photographing camera.

(12) Although an arrangement has been described in the above embodimentswhere the photography control system 2 extracts photography data takenwhere the subject has been taken by the photographing camera so that thesubject ID is in the picture, an arrangement may be made where an IDspecially for an attraction that the subject is going to ride isprinted, for example, and the subject ID and the attraction-specific IDare associated when getting on, so that image data, where theattraction-specific ID is detected from an image in the photographydata, is saved as the photography data corresponding to the subject ID.

(13) Although an arrangement has been described in the above embodimentswhere the temporary photography data storage unit is realized bynon-volatile memory such as FeRAM, this may be realized by using a harddisk, storage in an Internet cloud, voltage memory such as RAM, or thelike.

(14) Although an arrangement has been described in the above embodimentswhere the photography data of the time period where the subject ID isdetected is saved in the temporary photography data storage unit 24 inthe photography control system 2, photography data may be extracted fora certain amount of time after the subject ID is first detected. Thisarrangement enables the subject to assume various poses, including thosewhere the subject ID would not be in the picture, after the subject IDis shown to the photographing camera to begin with.

(15) Although an arrangement has been described in the above embodimentswhere only one set of subjects enter the photography area at one time,an arrangement may be made where multiple sets of subjects enter at thesame time. For example, even in a case where subject identificationbarcode tags of multiple sets of subjects are detected in the sameframe, photography data corresponding to the respective subject IDs canbe saved in a manner associated with the subject IDs of each.

(16) Although an arrangement has been described in the above embodimentswhere the photography control system 2 starts secondary photographyprocessing after the subject exits the photography area, secondaryphotography processing may be started before the subject exits thephotography area.

(17) Although description has been made in the above embodimentsregarding an arrangement where photography data of still imagescorresponding to the subject ID is extracted from photography data ofcontinuously-taken still images, an arrangement where photography dataof a moving image corresponding to the subject ID is extracted fromphotography data of a moving image, and photography data of still imagescorresponding to the subject ID is extracted from photography data ofstill images, an arrangement may be made where photography data of amoving image corresponding to the subject ID is extracted fromphotography data of continuously-taken still images, or wherephotography data of still images corresponding to the subject ID isextracted from photography data of moving images.

(18) Although an arrangement has been described in the above embodimentswhere one photographing camera is at one photography area, multiplephotographing cameras may be installed in a single photography area. Inthis case, the subject ID detected when entering triggers primaryphotography processing by multiple photographing cameras, andphotography data corresponding to the subject ID can be acquired fromphotography data taken by each of the photographing camera. Thephotography control server may have as many temporary photography datastorage units as there are photographing cameras. In this case, thephotography data taken by the multiple photographing cameras may each betemporarily saved in the corresponding temporary photography datastorage units. One or more sets of photography data corresponding to thesubject ID may be extracted from the multiple sets of photography datatemporarily saved in the multiple temporary photography data storageunits. The one or more sets of extracted photography data may be storedin the temporary photography data storage units in a manner associatedwith the identification information. Alternatively, the photographycontrol server may have a single temporary photography data storageunit, with the multiple sets of photography data taken by the multiplephotographing cameras being temporarily saved in this temporaryphotography data storage unit.

(19) Although an arrangement has been described in the above embodimentswhere moving body detection acts as the photography starting trigger forprimary photography processing in the photography control system 2,person detection may be used instead of moving body detection. In a casewhere the subject is riding in a ride and passes in front of thephotographing camera, the time period at which the ride passes in frontof the photographing camera may be used as a trigger to performphotography.

(20) Although the validity of the subject ID itself is not confirmed inthe above embodiments, usage conditions may be applied where at leastone of usable photographing camera and usable date and time isrestricted. In this case, usable photographing cameras and photographingterminals can be restricted, and usable dates and times can berestricted.

(21) Although an arrangement has been described in the above embodimentswhere photography data is extracted at the point of instructingphotography to the photographing terminal, photography data from a pointa certain amount of time later than the photography instruction may beextracted. For example, extracting photography data at a point afterhaving said, “Say cheese!” after pressing the photography button willenable the subject to assume a photo pose after the photography buttonhas been pressed.

(22) Although an arrangement has been described in the above embodimentswhere input of the subject ID to the photographing terminal andinstructing of photography by the photography button are separateprocedures, an arrangement may be made where photography data isextracted with input of the subject ID as a trigger, or wherephotography data is extracted after a certain amount of time has elapsedafter having input the subject ID.

(23) Although an arrangement has been described in the above embodimentswhere photography data can be viewed only in a case of inputting thesubject ID to the photographing terminal, an arrangement may be madewhere images from the photographing camera are constantly displayed onthe photographing terminal.

(24) Although an arrangement has been described in the above embodimentswhere the photography data storage unit is configured in a cloud serverconnected by the Internet, the photography data storage unit may beconfigured in a server within the sightseeing destination or amusementfacility or the like, so as to be downloadable for a dedicated terminalon-site. An arrangement may also be made where a dedicated program isinstalled in a mobile terminal of the photographer and used, so as todirectly save to the mobile terminal of the photographer.

(25) Although an arrangement has been described in the above embodimentswhere a combination table is saved in the photography data storage unitregarding information of association of photography data and subjectIDs, an arrangement may be made where saving regions are separatelyprovided for each subject ID, and photography data for each subject issaved in the respective saving areas, thereby realizing an arrangementthat does not use a combination table for information of associationwith subject IDs.

(26) Although an arrangement has been described in the above embodimentswhere one secondary photography control unit is correlated with onetemporary photography data storage unit, an arrangement may be madewhere one secondary photography control unit extracts photography datafrom multiple temporary photography data storage units.

(27) Although an arrangement has been described in the above embodimentswhere one secondary photography control unit is correlated with onephotography data storage unit, an arrangement may be made where multiplesecondary photography control units save photography data in a singlephotography data storage unit. This arrangement enables photography datasaved by multiple photography control systems to be collectivelyacquired from the photography data storage unit using the subject ID.

(28) Although an arrangement has been described in the above embodimentswhere one temporary photography data storage unit is correlated with onephotographing camera, an arrangement may be made where multiplephotographing cameras temporarily save photography data in a singletemporary photography data storage unit.

(29) Although an arrangement has been described in the above embodimentswhere one photographing camera is correlated with one primaryphotography control unit, an arrangement may be made where one primaryphotography control unit is correlated with multiple photographingcameras photographing the subject at the photography spot in differentphotography states. The different photography states may be the multiplephotographing cameras being installed facing different directions, themultiple photographing cameras being set to different zoom ratios, andso forth. This enables usage where the subject at a photography spot canbe photographed from multiple angles at the same time, or photographedat different zoom ratios at the same time.

(30) Control programs made up of program code such as machine code orhigh-level programing language, to cause processors, and circuitsconnected to the processors, in the subject information detecting unit,primary photography control unit, subject identification informationinput unit, and secondary photography control unit, to execute theprocesses regarding these devices, may be recorded in recording mediaand may be circulated and distributed via various communication routesor the like.

Examples of such recording media include IC cards, hard disks, opticaldiscs, flexible disks, read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, and soforth. Control programs circulated and distributed are provided to beused by being stored in memory or the like that can be read by aprocessor, and the functions such as those described in the embodimentsare realized by the processor executing the control programs. Inaddition to directly executing control programs, the processor may alsoexecute programs by compiling or by interpreting.

(31) The functional components (subject information detecting unit,primary photography control unit, subject identification informationinput unit, secondary photography control unit, and so forth) describedin the embodiments may be realized as circuits executing the functionsthereof, or may be realized by one or multiple processors executingprograms.

Note that the functional components are typically realized as largescale integration (LSI). These may be individually formed as singlechips, or part or all may be integrated as a single chip. Althoughdescription has been made regarding an LSI, these may be referred to asintegrated circuit (IC), system LSI, super LSI, or ultra LSI, dependingon the degree of integration thereof. Techniques for integrated circuitsare not restricted to LSI, and dedicated circuits or general-purposeprocessors may be used. Field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) programedafter manufacturing of the LSI, and reconfigurable logic devices capableof reconfiguration of junctions within the LSI or setup of circuitsections within the LSI, can be used to the same end. Further, in theevent of the advent of an integrated circuit technology which wouldreplace LSIs by advance of semiconductor technology or a separatetechnology derived therefrom, such a technology may be used forintegration of the functional blocks, as a matter of course.

(32) The above embodiments and modifications may be partially combined.

The photography control method according to the present disclosureenables identifying a user that can perform photography and acquisitionof photography data when photographing a subject at a photography spotusing photographing cameras installed facing the photography spot, andaccordingly is suitable for a system for commemorative photography attheme parks, amusement spots, sightseeing destinations, and so forth.

What is claimed is:
 1. A photography control method of a photographycontrol system, the method comprising: i) acquiring first subjectentrance information indicating an entrance time at which a subject hasentered an area including a photography spot with a first device at apavilion entrance; ii) acquiring first subject exit informationindicating an exit time at which the subject has exited the areaincluding the photography spot with a second device at a pavilion exitlocated at a location different from the first device; iii)photographing, using a photographing camera installed facing thephotography spot, the photography spot to obtain a plurality of sets ofphotography data by automatically starting photographing of the subjectat the photography spot in response to detection by the first device ofthe first subject entrance information at the pavilion entrance, andautomatically stopping photographing in response to detecting by thesecond device of the first subject exit information at the pavilionexit, and elapsing of a predetermined time; iv) saving the plurality ofsets of photography data, taken by the photographing camera, in a firstphotography data storage unit in association with identificationinformation of the subject acquired by the first device; v) acquiringthe identification information identifying the subject with the firstand second devices; vi) determining the time period between the time thefirst device detects entry of the subject into the area and the time thesecond device detects exiting of the subject from the area; vii)extracting, from the plurality of sets of photography data saved in thefirst photography data storage unit, the at least one set of photographydata taken during the determined time period between the time the firstdevice detects entry of the subject into the area and the time thesecond device detects exiting of the subject from the area, in responseto reading an optically readable code with a third device different fromthe first and second devices, and matching the optically readable codewith the identification information of the subject in the firstphotography data storage unit; and viii) saving the extracted at leastone set of photography data in a second photography data storage unit ina manner associated with the identification information of the subject.2. The photography control method according to claim 1, wherein, in theacquiring of the first subject entrance information, information that isthe same information that the identification information indicates isacquired as the subject information, wherein, the first subject entranceinformation is acquired when the subject enters the area.
 3. Thephotography control method according to claim 1, wherein, in theacquiring of the first subject entrance information, moving bodydetection information indicating that a moving body in the area has beendetected is acquired as the subject information.
 4. The photographycontrol method according to claim 1, wherein, in the acquiring of thefirst subject entrance information, the identification informationacquired in the acquiring of the identification information is acquiredas the first subject entrance information.
 5. The photography controlmethod according to claim 1, wherein, in the photographing, thephotographing of the photography spot is taken by the photographingcamera repeatedly at a predetermined time interval, and wherein thephotographing is ended when a certain amount of time has elapsed fromstarting of photography.
 6. The photography control method according toclaim 2, further comprising: saving first time information in the firstphotography data storage unit, the first time information being theentrance time and indicating a first time at which the first subjectentrance information was acquired; wherein, in the photographing, thephotographing of the photography spot is taken by the photographingcamera repeatedly at a predetermined time interval, wherein, the one ormore sets of photography data, to be obtained in the photographing, area plurality of sets of photography data whose photography times taken bythe photographing camera are different from each other.
 7. Thephotography control method according to claim 2, further comprising:saving the first subject entrance information and first time informationin the first photography data storage unit, the first time informationbeing the entrance time and indicating a first time at which the firstsubject entrance information was acquired; acquiring second subject exitinformation which is the same information as the first subject entranceinformation but is determined at the exit time when the subject exitsfrom the area; and saving second time information in the firstphotography data storage unit, the second time information being theexit time and indicating a second time at which the second subjectinformation was acquired, wherein, in the photographing, thephotographing of the photography spot is taken by the photographingcamera repeatedly at a predetermined time interval, wherein, the one ormore sets of photography data, to be obtained in the photographing, area plurality of sets of photography data whose photography times taken bythe photographing camera are different from each other, wherein, in theacquiring of the identification information, third time information isacquired in addition to the identification information, the third timeinformation indicating a third time which is instructed by a user, thethird time being a time between the first time and the second time, andwherein, in the extracting, one set of photography data, whose aphotography time matches the third time, is extracted, as the at leastone set of photography data, from the plurality of sets of photographydata saved in the first photography data storage unit.
 8. Thephotography control method according to claim 1, wherein, in thephotographing, the photographing of the photography spot is taken by thephotographing camera repeatedly at a predetermined time interval,wherein, the one or more sets of photography data, to be obtained in thephotographing, are a plurality of sets of photography data whosephotography times taken by the photographing camera are different fromeach other, and wherein, in the extracting, one set of photography datawhose photography time is instructed by a user, is extracted, as the atleast one set of photography data, from the plurality of sets ofphotography data saved in the first photography data storage unit. 9.The photography control method according to claim 1, wherein, in thephotographing, the photographing of the photography spot is taken by thephotographing camera repeatedly at a predetermined time interval,wherein, the one or more sets of photography data, to be obtained in thephotographing, are a plurality of sets of photography data whosephotography times taken by the photographing camera are different fromeach other, wherein, in the acquiring of the identification information,the identification information is acquired from at least one set ofphotography data which includes information corresponding to theidentification information and which is one of the plurality of sets ofphotography data stored in the first photography data storage unit, andwherein, in the extracting, the at least one set of photography data,from which the identification information was acquired, is extractedfrom the first photography data storage unit.
 10. The photographycontrol method according to claim 1, wherein, in the acquiring of theidentification information, the identification information is acquiredby detecting the information corresponding to the identificationinformation from the at least one set of photography data.
 11. Thephotography control method according to claim 1, wherein theidentification information is expressed using a barcode.
 12. Thephotography control method according to claim 1, wherein theidentification information is features information indicating featuresof a facial image of the subject.
 13. The photography control methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the identification information has usageconditions restricting a date and time at which the photographing cameracan be used.
 14. The photography control method according to claim 2,further comprising: notifying a terminal operated by a user regarding aphotography spot where the subject can be photographed, in a case wherethe first subject entrance information acquired in the acquiring of thefirst subject entrance information and the identification informationacquired in the acquiring of the identification information match. 15.The photography control method according to claim 1, wherein thephotographing camera is a plurality of photographing cameras, whereinthe first photography data storage unit is a plurality of firstphotography data storage units, wherein, in the saving in the firstphotography data storage unit, a plurality of sets of photography datataken by the plurality of photographing cameras are saved in theplurality of first photography data storage units, and wherein, in theextracting, at least one set of photography data, corresponding to theidentification information acquired in the acquiring of identificationinformation, is extracted from the plurality of sets of photography datasaved in the plurality of first photography data storage units.
 16. Thephotography control method according to claim 15, wherein, in theextracting, the at least one set of photography data is extracted fromthe plurality of sets of photography data saved in the plurality offirst photography data storage units, and wherein, in the saving, the atleast one set of photography data is saved in the second photographydata storage unit in a manner associated with the identificationinformation.
 17. The photography control method according to claim 1,wherein the photographing camera is a plurality of photographingcameras, and wherein, in the saving, the plurality of sets ofphotography data taken by the plurality of photographing cameras aresaved in the first photography data storage unit.
 18. The photographycontrol method according to claim 1, wherein the photographing cameraincludes a plurality of photographing cameras that photograph thephotography spot in photography states different from each other, andwherein in the photographing, a photography instruction is given to theplurality of photographing cameras at the same time.
 19. A photographycontrol system comprising: a photographing camera installed facing aphotography spot at a pavilion-entrance terminal; a first barcode readerat the pavilion-entrance terminal that acquires subject entranceinformation indicating the entrance time at which a subject has enteredan area including the photography spot by reading a barcode on thesubject representing a subject ID of the subject; a second barcodereader that acquires subject exit information indicating the exit timeat which the subject has exited the area including the photography spotlocated at a location different from the first barcode reader at apavilion-exit terminal by reading the barcode of the subject; aprocessor that controls the photographing camera and determines the timeperiod between the time the first barcode reader detects entry of thesubject into the area and the time the second barcode reader detectsexiting of the subject from the area; a first memory that saves one ormore sets of photography data taken by the photographing camera inassociation with identification information of the subject acquired bythe first barcode reader; a keyboard or touch panel that inputs theidentification information identifying the subject; wherein theprocessor also extracts at least one set of photography data from thefirst memory; and a second memory that saves the at least one set ofphotography data extracted by the processor, wherein, the photographingcamera photographs the photography spot to obtain a plurality of sets ofphotography data by automatically starting photographing of the subjectat the photography spot in response to detection by the first barcodereader of the barcode displayed on the subject at the pavilion entrance,and automatically stopping photographing in response to detecting by thesecond barcode reader of the barcode displayed on the subject at thepavilion exit, and elapsing of a predetermined time; the first barcodereader acquires the identification information identifying the subjectat the pavilion-entrance terminal; the second barcode reader acquiresthe identification information identifying the subject at thepavilion-exit terminal; the processor determines the time period betweenthe time the first barcode reader detects entry of the subject into thearea and the time the second barcode reader detects exiting of thesubject from the area; and the processor extracts, from the plurality ofsets of photography data saved in the first memory, the at least one setof photography data taken during the determined time period between thetime the first barcode reader detects entry of the subject into the areaand the time the second barcode reader device detects exiting of thesubject from the area, in response to inputting the identificationinformation identifying the subject with the keyboard or touch panel,and reading the barcode with a device different from the first andsecond barcode readers and different from the keyboard and touch panel,and matching the barcode with the identification information of thesubject in the first memory.
 20. A photography control servercomprising: a first barcode reader that acquires subject entranceinformation indicating the entrance time at which a subject has enteredan area including a photography spot by reading a barcode on the subjectrepresenting a subject ID of the subject; a second barcode reader thatacquires subject exit information indicating the exit time at which thesubject has exited the area including the photography spot, located at alocation different from the first barcode reader; a processor thatcontrols a photographing camera installed facing the photography spotand determines the time period between the time the first barcode readerdetects entry of the subject into the area and the time the secondbarcode reader detects exiting of the subject from the area; a firstmemory that saves one or more sets of photography data taken by thephotographing camera in association with identification information ofthe subject acquired by the first barcode reader; a keyboard or a touchpanel that inputs the identification information identifying thesubject; wherein the processor also extracts at least one set ofphotography data from the first memory; and a second memory that savesthe at least one set of photography data extracted by the processor,wherein, the photographing camera photographs the photography spot toobtain a plurality of sets of photography data by automatically startingphotographing of the subject at the photography spot in response todetection by the first barcode reader of the barcode displayed on thesubject at a pavilion entrance, and automatically stopping photographingin response to detecting by the second barcode reader of the barcodedisplayed on the subject at a pavilion exit, and elapsing of apredetermined time; the first barcode reader acquires the identificationinformation identifying the subject at a pavilion-entrance terminal atthe pavilion entrance; the second barcode reader acquires theidentification information identifying the subject at a pavilion-exitterminal at the pavilion exit; the processor determines the time periodbetween the time the first barcode reader detects entry of the subjectinto the area and the time the second barcode reader detects exiting ofthe subject from the area; and the processor extracts, from theplurality of sets of photography data saved in the first memory, the atleast one set of photography data taken during the determined timeperiod between the time the first barcode reader detects entry of thesubject into the area and the time the second barcode reader devicedetects exiting of the subject from the area, in response to inputtingthe identification information identifying the subject with the keyboardor touch panel, and reading the barcode with a device different from thefirst and second barcode readers and different from the keyboard andtouch panel, and matching the barcode with the identificationinformation of the subject in the first memory.
 21. The photographycontrol method according to claim 1, wherein the first device comprisesa barcode reader.